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Eliot  flDemorial 


SKETCHES 

HISTORICAL  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL 

OF  THE 


ELIOT  CHURCH  AND  SOCIETY 

BOSTON 


BY 

A.  C.  THOMPSON 


BOSTON 

TLbe  pu^rim  press 


CHICAGO 


u 

105 

./fef 


O’NEILL  LIBRARY 
BOSTON  COLLEGE 


Copyright,  1900, 

BY 

A.  C.  Thompson 


Electrotyped  by  Thomas  Todd 
14  Beacon  Street, 
Boston. 


PREFACE. 


THE  origin  of  this  volume  was  as  follows : — 

The  four  Deacons  of  the  Eliot  Church  —  Messrs.  Timothy 
Smith,  Alpine  McLean,  Frederick  C.  Russell,  and  Clarence  T. 
Mooar  —  communicated  a  joint  and  earnest  written  request  that  I 
should  prepare  such  a  work.  They  stated  that  my  long  connection 
with  the  Church  had  made  me  acquainted  with  many  members  now 
deceased,  and  with  many  facts  in  our  collective  life  known  to  no 
one  else  now  living.  Emphasis  was  given  to  a  suggestion  that  there 
should  be  special  freedom  in  recording  items  of  autobiography. 
The  introduction  of  matters  personal  to  the  writer  has  accordingly 
been  employed  much  more  amply  than  might  otherwise  have  seemed 
consistent  with  modesty.  Without  such  freedom  there  would  have 
been  constraint  and  awkwardness  in  an  endeavor  not  to  appear 
egotistic. 

The  volume  is  an  unpretentious  contribution  to  local  history,  a 
response  to  the  reasonable  desire  of  friends  for  some  acquaintance 
with  a  limited  period  not  long  ago,  and  with  individuals  whose  names 
and  but  little  more  are  familiar  to  them.  After  the  preliminary 
chapters  there  follows  a  simple  record,  for  the  most  part,  of  occur¬ 
rences  between  the  years  1834  and  1871.  Much  greater  fullness  per¬ 
tains  naturally  to  the  period  of  my  active  pastorate,  from  1842  to 
1871.  At  the  last  mentioned  date  Rev.  B.  F.  Hamilton,  d.d.,  be¬ 
came  a  valued  colleague.  Memoranda,  regularly  made  at  the  time, 
aid  these  reminiscences. 

The  book  comes  from  the  press  on  the  eighty-eighth  anniversary 
of  my  birth,  and  in  the  fifty-eighth  year  of  my  connection  with  the 
Eliot  Church. 


Boston, ;  April  30,  1900. 


A.  C.  Thompson. 


* 


CONTENTS 


HISTORICAL  SKETCHES. 


PAGE 

I.  Roxbury  —  Early  and  Later .  1-13 

II.  Local  Orthodoxy  and  Liberalism .  14-26 


III.  Preliminaries  and  Organization .  27-33 

IV.  First  Pastoral  Settlement .  34-36 


V.  Second  Settlement 

VI.  The  Pulpit  .  . 

VII.  Pastoral  Service 

1  Parish  Calls .  50-60 

2  Extra-Parochial  Service  .  .  60-65 

3  Deaths  and  Funerals  .  .  .  66-74 


37-42 
43-49 
50 

4  Marriages .  74-77 

5  Contrasts  and  Coincidences  .  78-86 

6  Peculiar  Persons  and  Proceedings,  86-95 


VIII.  Church  Functions  .  .  . 

1  Sacramental  Services  .  .  .  96-100 

2  Church  Prayer  Meeting  .  .  100-108 

3  Special  Church  Fellowship  .  108-110 


.  96- 

4  Church  Discipline  ....  110-113. 

5  Revivals . 1 13- 120 


IX.  Eliot  Sunday  School 


121-131 


X.  Various  Devotional  Meetings 

1  Maternal  Meeting  ....  132-136 

2  Female  Prayer  Meeting  .  .  136-137 


3 


Other  Prayer  Meetings 


132 
1 37-139 


XI.  Various  Associations . 

1  Dorcas  Society . 1 40-141  |  2  Eliot  City  Mission  .  . 


14a 

141-14& 


XII.  Special  Occasions  and  Occurrences . 

1  Social  Gatherings  ....  149-151  4  Civil-War  Time  .  .  . 

2  Anniversaries . 1 51-153  5  Sickness  and  Absences 

3  Receptions . I53_I57 


XIII.  Colonial  Churches  .  . 

1  Vine  Street  Church  .  .  .  170-172 

2  Highland  Church  ....  173 -175 


3  Walnut  Avenue  Church 


149 

157-163 

163-169 


> 

170 

I75-i8i 


XIV.  Fellowship — Ecclesiastical  and  Ministerial .  182 


v 


VI 


CONTENTS. 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


XV  The  Diaconate  .  .  .  . 

1  Alvah  Kittredge  .  .  .  1 95-1 97 

2  William  G.  Lambert  .  .  .  198-199 

3  Henry  Hill . 199-202 

4  William  W.  Davenport  .  .  202-206 

5  Andrew  S.  March  ....  206-208 

6  Edward  B.  Huntington  .  .  208-210 

XVI.  Ministerial  Parishioners 

1  Rev.  Stephen  Sanford  Smith,  224-225 

2  Rev.  Huntington  Porter  .  .  225-226 

3  Rev.  Ezra  Conant  ....  226 

4  Rev.  Charles  Baker  Kittredge,  226-228 

5  Rev.  William  Henry  Porter  .  229 

XVII.  Missionary  Officials  .  . 

1  Rev.  Rufus  Anderson, D.D.,LL.D., 

239-242 

2  Rev.  David  Greene  .  .  .  242-245 

3  Miss  Mary  Evarts  Greene  .  245-247 

4  Mrs.  Mary  P.  H.  Leake  .  .  247-248 


• .  193 

7  Moses  H.  Day . 210-21 1 

8  Lucius  H.  Briggs  ....  212-214 

9  J.  Russell  Bradford  .  .  .  214-216 

10  Charles  W.  Hill  ....  217-219 

11  Andrew  Marshall  ....  219-22 1 

12  William  Francis  Day  .  .  .  222-223 

.  224 


6  Rev.  Charles  Shaw  Adams  .  229-230 

7  Rev.  David  Meaubec  Mitchell,  230-232 

8  Rev.  L.  Burton  Rockwood  .  233-234 

9  Rev.  Edward  W.  Hooker,  d.d.  234-236 

.  237 

5  Rev.  Joseph  Sylvester  Clark,  d.d., 

248-250 

6  Rev.  Henry  Brown  Hooker,  d.d. 

250-253 

7  Mr.  Benjamin  Perkins  .  .  .  253-254 


XVIII.  Missionaries  .  •  .  .  .  . 

1  Mr.  George  Christopher  Hurter 

255-257 

2  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Grozer  Hurter,  257-258 

3  Rev.  Daniel  Crosby  Greene,  d.d., 

258-260 

4  Mrs.  Mary  Carpenter  Paris  .  260 

5  Mrs.  Louisa  Bradbury  Bunker,  260-262 

6  Mrs.  Maria  Chamberlain  Forbes, 262-263 

7  Mrs.  Mary  Ballan tine  Fairbank,  263-265 

8  Mrs.  Harriet  S.  Caswell  .  .  266-267 


. .  255 

9  Mrs.  Jane  Herring  Loomis  .  267-268 

10  Rev.  David  Coit  Scudder  .  268-271 

11  Miss  Ellen  Maria  Stone  .  .  272-273 

12  Miss  Anna  Wells  Bumstead,  273-275 

13  Miss  Mary  G.  Bumstead  .  275-277 

14  Rev.  Charles  W.  Munroe  .  277 

15  Rev.  Samuel  Greene  .  .  .  277-279 

16  Miss  Elizabeth  Ellen  Backup,  279-280 

17  Miss  Susan  Maria  Underwood,  280-282 


XIX.  Educators  and  Litterateurs 

1  Rev.  Jacob  Abbott  ....  283-285 

2  Rev.  William  Channing  Wood- 

bridge  .  285-287 

3  William  Alexander  Alcott,M.D.  287-288 

4  Rev.  Solomon  Adams  .  .  .  288-290 


.  283 

5  Rev.  Horatio  Quincy  Butter¬ 

field,  D.D . 290-293 

6  Charles  Short,  LL.D.  .  .  .  293-294 

7  Prof.  William  Ripley  Nichols,  294-298 

8  Prof.  Frank  Eustace  Anderson,  298-300 

9  Horace  Elisha  Scudder, litt.d.  300-302 


XX.  Lawyers . 

1  Hon.  Samuel  Hurd  Walley  .  303-305 

2  Hon.  Charles  Theodore  Russell, 30 5-306 

3  Hon.  William  Gaston,  ll.d.  .  307-308 

4  Nehemiah  Chase  Berry  .  .  308-309 

5  Henry  Hill  Anderson  .  .  .  309-310 

6  Josiah  Woodbury  Hubbard  .  31 1 


.  3°3 

7  David  Brainerd  Greene  .  .  311-31 2 

8  Jeremiah  Evarts  Greene  .  31 3-31 4 

9  Hon.  Roger  Sherman  Greene,  314-316 

10  William  Phillips  Walley  .  316 

11  Gen.  Henry  William  Fuller,  316-317 

12  John  Wentworth  Porter  .  317-319 


CONTENTS. 


Vll 


XXI.  Physicians . 

1  Daniel  Francis  Gulliver,  m.d.  321-322 

2  Alfred  C.  Garratt,  m.d.  .  .  322-324 

3  Henry  Blatchford  Wheelwright, 

M.D .  324-325 

4  Ariel  Ivers  Cummings,  m.d.  .  325-326 

5  Henry  S.  Steele,  m.d.  .  .  .  326-327 

XXII.  Artists  . . 

1  Samuel  Lancaster  Gerry  .  .  333-334 

2  Mrs.  Victoria  Adelaide  Root,  334~33S 


XXIII.  Deaf-Mutes . 

1  Jonathan  P.  Marsh  ....  340-342  " 

2  Mrs.  Pauline  P.  Marsh  .  .  342-343 

3  Mrs.  Pauline  Marsh  Bowes  .  343-344 


XXIV.  Noteworthy  Laymen 
I  Dr.  Nathaniel  Shepherd  Prentiss, 


349-353 

2  John  Heath .  353“ 355 

3  Melzar  Waterman  ....  355-357 

4  Richard  Bond . 357— 358 

5  John  Newton  Denison  .  .  358-360 

6  Isaac  Davis  White  ....  360-361 

7  John  Brown . 361-362 

XXV.  Young  Men . 

1  Henry  Martyn  Hill  ....  379-381 

2  John  C.  Carruthers,  Jr.  .  .  381-382 

3  D.  Jarvis  Hastings  ....  382-383 

4  Nathan  Haggett  Brown  .  .  383-385 

5  Edward  P.  Flint . 385-386 


XXVI.  Ministerial  Recruits  .  . 

1  Prof.  John  F. Gulliver, d.d.,ll.d.,  392-393 

2  Rev.  William  Ladd  Ropes  .  393-394 

3  Rev.  William  Sewall  .  .  .  394 

4  Rev.  John  Henry  Denison,  d.d.,  395-396 

5  Rev.  George  Edwards  FI  ill  .  396 

6  Rev.  Isaac  C.  White  .  .  .  396-398 

7  Rev.  Evarts  Scudder  .  .  .  398-399 

8  Rev.  Alexander  S.  Twombly, 

D.D . 399-400 


XXVII.  Ministerial  Colleagues  . 

1  Mrs.  Hannah  C.  Bowles  W olff,  410-41 1 

2  Mrs.  Sarah  P.  Gulliver  Pratt,  411-412 

3  Mrs.  Susan  M.  Huntington 

Perkins . 4 12-4 13 

4  Mrs.  Elizabeth  G.  Strong  .  .  413-414 

5  Mrs.Sarah  Elizabeth  Boardman, 414-41 5 


.  320 

6  Stephen  Wallace  Bowles,  m.d.  327-328 


7  Timothy  R.  Nute,  m.d.  .  .  328 

8  Benjamin  Mann,  m.d.  .  .  329 

9  Frank  II.  Davenport,  m.d.  .  330 

10  Robert  Bell,  m.d .  330-331 


332 

•  335-336 

•  336-337 
33S 

•  344-346 

•  346-347 

•  347-34s 
349 

8  Dea.  James  Clap  ....  362-365 

9  George  Domett  ....  366-367 

10  Abner  Kingman  ....  367-369 


11  Hon.  Joseph  S.  Ropes  .  .  369-370 

12  Sylvester  Bliss . 37 1  -372 

13  Robert  McMaster  Carson  .  373-374 

14  William  Henry  Wardwell  .  374-375 

15  Wesley  Ireson . 376-377 

.  37& 

6  George  Alvah  Kittredge  .  .  386-38S 

7  Joseph  Eppes  Brown  .  .  .  388-390 

8  Hon.  James  M.  W.  Hall  .  .  390 

9  Col.  Ebenezer  W.  Stone  .  .  390-391 


3  Miss  Emily  Percy  Mann 

4  Mr.  Frank  Thayer  Merrill 


4  William  Lynde  .  .  . 

5  Mrs.  Caroline  F.  Lynde 

6  Mrs.  Mary  Coffin  Lynde 


. 392 

9  Rev.  Francis  Brown  Perkins,  400-401 

10  Rev.  Edward  Anderson  .  .  401 

1 1  Rev.  Abbott  Eliot  Kittredge, 

d.d .  401-402 

12  Rev.  James  Winchel  Grush,  402-404 

13  Rev.  Isaac  Curtis  Meserve,D.D.  404-405 

14  Rev.  Alfred  Henry  Flail  .  405-407 

15  Rev.  George  Ross  Hewitt  .  407-409 

.  410 

6  Mrs.  Hannah  T.  Fenn  .  .  415-416 

7  Mrs.  Mary  Anderson  Street,  416-417 

8  Mrs.  Jane  Perkins  Childs  .  417-418 

9  Mrs.  Caroline  Forbes  Penniman,  418 
10  Mrs.  Angenette  F.  Tinkham 

Hamilton  . .  419 


V1U 


CONTENTS. 


XXVIII.  Young  Women  .  .  .  . 

1  Maria  Antonia  Martina  Eche- 

verria . 421-422 

2  Charlotte  H.  Baker  .  .  .  422-423 

3  Emeline  Silsbee . 423-424 

4  Charlotte  R.  Steele  .  .  .  423-424 

XXIX.  Honorable  Women  .  . 

1  Mrs.  Mehitable  Grozer  Kit- 

tredge  .  433*434 

2  Mrs.  Harriet  L.  Dickinson  .  434-436 

3  Mrs.  Clara  Stowell  Franklin,  436-437 

4  Mrs.  Catharine  Louisa  Stone,  437-438 

5  Miss  Caroline  Maria  Stone  .  438-440 


6  Mrs.  Abigail  F.  Ward  well  .  440 

7  Mrs.  Mary  J.  Basford  .  .  441 

8  Mrs.  Anna  F.  Waters  .  .  442-444 

9  Mrs.  Magdalena  Kuhn  .  .  444-446 

10  Mrs.  Mary  Callen  ....  446-448 

11  Mrs.  Judith  Nutting  .  .  .  448-451 

XXX.  Children . 

1  Caring  for  the  Young  .  .  .  473-474 

2  Early  Piety . 474-477 

3  Early  Deaths .  477*479 


XXXI.  Epilogue . 

1  Harmony  amidst  Diversity  .  484-488 


.  420 

5  Eliza  Hill  Anderson  .  .  .  425-427 

6  Marcia  Evelina  Atkins  .  .  427-428 

7  Ann  Maria  Bond  ....  428-429 

8  Caroline  W.  Bond  ....  429-430 

9  Ann  Bell . 430-431 

.  432 

12  Mrs.  Lucy  Waterman  .  .  451-453 

13  Miss  Susan  Wesson  .  .  .  453-455 


Ministers’  Wives. 

14  Mrs.  Eliza  Hill  Anderson  .  456-461 

1 5  Mrs.  Sarah  Elizabeth  R.  Peck,  461-462 

Widows  of  Ministers. 

16  Mrs.  Mary  Codman  .  .  .  464-466 

17  Mrs.  Martha  Vinal  Hooker,  466-467 

18  Mrs.  Lucy  Gilpatrick  Marsh,  467-470 

19  Mrs.  Sarah  Collins  Porter  .  470-472 

.  473 

4  Our  Y oung  Saints  :  479-483 

(a)  John  Eliot  Bowles  .  479-480 

(b)  Guy  Richards  .  .  .  480 

{c)  Frances  Elizabeth  Murke,  481 

.  484 

|  2  A  Happy  Pastorate  .  .  .  488-496 


CHAPTER  I. 


ROXBURY - EARLY  AND  LATER. 

The  first  of  several  churches  now  in  our  Commonwealth 
bearing  the  name  Eliot  was  planted  in  Roxbury.  The  very 
name  takes  us  back  more  than  two  and  a  half  centuries. 
Notable  contrasts  are  suggested.  The  wilderness  then  lying 
between  the  northern  and  southern  lines  of  New  England 
latitude,  and  stretching  three  thousand  miles  west  to  the 
Pacific,  had  not  been  penetrated  by  Europeans.  Only  its 
Atlantic  fringes  had  been  entered  at  a  few  points.  Savage 
tribes  were  sparsely  scattered  over  the  broad  territory,  which 
remained  in  primitive  rudeness.  When  John  Eliot  arrived, 
only  five  towns  had  been  incorporated  in  the  Massachusetts 
colony,  and  the  early  period  of  these  feeble,  coastwise  settle¬ 
ments  was  one  of  privation  and  hardship.  The  first  meet¬ 
ing  house  in  Roxbury,  built  of  logs,  with  a  thatched  roof  and 
clay  floor,  but  without  spire,  gallery,  pew,  or  plaster,  was 
erected  in  1632,  and,  owing  to  fear  of  attack  by  Indians,  all 
citizens  were  required  to  live  within  half  a  mile  of  the  same ; 
and  the  men  were  ordered  to  bring  their  firearms  to  church 
on  the  Sabbath.  Wolves’  heads  were  nailed  to  the  meeting 
house.  Bears  and  other  wild  animals  were  common  in  the 
neighborhood.  Indeed,  more  than  a  century  passed  before 
they  were  exterminated.1  At  first,  there  was  no  physician  in 


*  During  one  week  in  September,  1725,  not  less  than  twenty  bears  were  killed, 
it  is  said,  within  two  miles  o£  Boston. 


2 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


Roxbury,  and  some  years  after  the  settlement  began,  a  ser¬ 
vant  was  one  day  (1639)  sent  into  Boston,  the  adjoining 
town,  for  a  dentist,  and  both  of  them  were  found  days  after¬ 
ward,  beneath  the  snow,  frozen  to  death.  For  a  long  time 
there  were  but  few  physicians  in  the  colony,  and  no  medical 
associations  were  formed  till  near  the  Revolution,  1776. 
Now  there  are  over  a  thousand  and  five  hundred  physicians 
in  Boston,  and  the  present  population  of  our  city  is  not, 
perhaps,  far  short  of  the  whole  number  of  inhabitants  in 
New  England  at  the  Declaration  of  National  Independence. 
When  a  municipal  charter  was  granted  (1822)  the  popula¬ 
tion  of  Boston  had  not  reached  44,000 ;  now  it  is  over 
500,000.  At  that  time,  the  towns  immediately  adjoining 
were  all  separate  communities,  and  so  continued  till  annexa¬ 
tions  to  the  city  took  place — East  Boston  in  1836,  Roxbury 
in  1867,  Charlestown,  Brighton,  and  West  Roxbury  in  1873. 
At  the  date  referred  to  (1822),  there  were  no  good  pave¬ 
ments.  Now  we  have  excellent  roads  in  all  directions,  while 
our  Franklin  Park  has  ten  miles  of  smoothest  highways,  and 
twenty  miles  of  walks.  There  were  no  lighted  streets  at 
night,  no  water-works,  no  telegraphs.  The  cemeteries  of 
Roxbury  were  then  barely  respectable :  none  in  the  land  are 
now  more  attractive  than  our  Forest  Hills.  The  pillory, 
the  stocks,  and  the  whipping-post  were  banished  long  ago* 
Advance  in  facilities  of  public  conveyance  has  kept 
pace  with  other  improvements.  At  the  opening  of  this 
nineteenth  century  there  were  only  a  few  stage-coaches  in 
the  neighborhood.  A  trip  to  New  York  required  about  a 


ROXBURY - EARLY  AND  LATER. 


3 


week’s  time.  Even  so  late  as  when  the  Eliot  Church  was 
formed  (1834),  that  journey,  by  schedule,  took  forty-one 
hours,  night  included.  Now  it  may  be  accomplished  in  a 
little  over  one-eighth  of  that  time.  The  fare  by  stage  from 
Roxbury  to  Boston  was  twenty-five  cents,  and  when  an 
hourly  was  established,1  in  1826,  twelve  and  a  half  cents  was 
the  charge.  At  the  date  last  named  there  was  not  a  rail¬ 
road  in  the  country,  and  the  first  passenger  railroad  —  that 
from  Boston  to  Newton — was  not  opened  till  1834.  Thirty 
years  later  came  the  horse  car  (1866),  and  after  twenty-two 
years  more  (1 888),  the  electric  car,  with  fare  reduced  and 
speed  increased. 

The  existing  place  of  worship,  on  the  same  site  as  the 
one  where  Eliot  began  his  long  pastorate,  was  built  in  1 740, 
and  is  the  fifth  in  succession.  The  house  that  stood  there 
previously  was  riddled  by  cannon  balls  during  the  siege  of 
Boston,  and  the  lawn  in  front  was  a  camping  ground  of  our 
troops.  The  present  pastor  of  the  First  Church,  Dr.  De 
Normandie,  is  the  eleventh  in  succession.2 

1  By  Horace  King,  now  ninety-five  years  of  age. 

2  PASTORS. 

Thomas  Welde.  July,  1632.  Died  in  England,  March  23,  1661. 

John  Eliot.  November  5,  1632.  Died  in  Roxbury,  May  20,  1690. 

Samuel  Danforth.  September  24,  1650.  Died  in  Roxbury,  November  10,  1674. 

Nehemiah  Walter.  October  17,  1688.  Died  in  Roxbury,  September  17,  1750. 

Thomas  Walter.  October  19,  1718.  Died  in  Roxbury,  January  10,  1725. 

Oliver  Peabody.  November  7,  1750.  Died  in  Roxbury,  May  29,  1752. 

Amos  Adams.  September  12,  1753.  Died  in  Roxbury,  October  5,  1775. 

Eliphalet  Porter.  October  2,  1782.  Died  in  Roxbury,  December  7,  1833. 

George  Putnam,  d.d.  July  7,  1830.  Died  in  Roxbury,  April  1 1,  1878. 

John  Graham  Brooks.  October  10,  1875.  Dismissed,  April  15,  1882. 

James  De  Normandie,  d.d.  March  14,  1883. 


4 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


The  geographical  limits  of  Roxbury,  extending  eight 
miles  from  east  to  west  and  two  miles  from  north  to  south, 
remained  substantially  unchanged  for  more  than  two  hun¬ 
dred  years.  Besides  the  First  Church,  there  was  no  other 
till  the  one  organized  in  West  Roxbury,  1712,  which  has  had 
thirteen  pastors.1  Towards  sixty  years  passed  before  the 
third  church,  that  at  Jamaica  Plain  was  gathered  (1770).2 

Though  the  primitive  region  about  Boston  was  so  rude, 
the  men  who  first  came  Jo  these  shores  had  been  familiar 
with  the  conveniences,  culture,  and  refinement  of  the  mother- 
country.  A  fair  proportion  of  them  had  enjoyed  the  advan¬ 
tages  of  her  schools  and  universities.  No  well  informed 

1  PASTORS. 

Ebenezer  Thayer.  November  26,  1712.  Died,  March  6,  1733. 

Nathaniel  Walter.  July  10,  1734.  Died,  March  n,  1 776. 

Thomas  Abbot.  September  29,  1773.  Dismissed,  March  10,  1783. 

John  Bradford.  May  30,  1785.  Died,  January  27,  1825. 

John  Flagg.  February  2,  1825.  Died,  March  14,  1831. 

George  Whitney.  June  15,  1831.  Dismissed,  February,  1836. 

Theodore  Parker.  June  21,  1837.  Dismissed,  February  8,  1846. 

Dexter  Clapp.  December  20,  1848.  Dismissed,  November  23,  1851. 

Edmund  B.  Wilson.  July  18,  1852.  Dismissed,  May,  1859. 

Trowbridge  T.  Forbush.  July  1,  1863.  Dismissed,  May  8,  1868. 

Augustus  Mellen  Haskell.  May  22,  1870.  Dismissed,  1888. 

Frank  Wright  Pratt.  1891.  Dismissed,  1895. 

Alfred  Rodman  Hussey.  1895.  Dismissed,  1898. 

John  H.  Applebee.  June  6,  1899. 

2  PASTORS. 

William  Gordon,  d.d.  July  6,  1772.  Dismissed,  March  17,  1786. 

Thomas  Gray,  d.d.  March  27,  1793.  Died,  June  1,  1847. 

George  Whitney.  February  10,  1836.  Died,  April  2,  1842. 

Joseph  H.  Allen.  October  18,  1843.  Dismissed,  February  21,  1847. 

Grindall  Reynolds,  D.D.  1848.  Dismissed,  1858. 

James  W.  Thompson.  1859.  Died,  1881. 

Charles  F.  Dole.  June,  1879. 


ROXBURY - EARLY  AND  LATER. 


5 


person  can  now  reside  here  without  gathering  inspiration 
from  the  annals  of  those  early  times.  To  settle  in  a  place 
where  there  have  been  no  eminent  citizens,  and  hence  where 
there  is  little  or  no  history,  is  like  pitching  one’s  tabernacle 
on  a  broad  sand-plain.  Whatever  the  great  or  good  may 
have  or  may  not  have  to  bequeath  by  last  will  and  testa¬ 
ment,  they  leave  an  invaluable  legacy,  one  that  may  enrich 
future  generations,  but  which  does  not  go  through  the  pro¬ 
bate  office.  Such  influence  is  second  only  to  that  of  distin¬ 
guished  contemporary  residents.  Roxbury  has  no  gallery  of 
portraits,  but  her  prominent  men  form  landmarks.  They  are 
like  hills  in  an  attractive  landscape.  Solomon  did  well  to 
speak  of  the  hyssop  that  springeth  out  of  the  wall,  a  low 
garden  plant,  but  his  far-reaching  thought  was  chiefly  on 
cedars  that  were  in  Lebanon. 

Among  conspicuous  names  in  the  early  days  of  Rox¬ 
bury  is  found  that  of  Dudley.  A  visitor  in  our  city  going 
from  the  present  Dudley  School  building  down  Dudley 
Street,  will  pass  the  site  of  the  Governor  Dudley  mansion 
(1636),  where  stood  the  late  Universalist  meeting-house. 
Thence  by  Washington  Street  he  will  go  to  our  oldest 
cemetery,  at  the  head  of  Eustis  Street,  one  of  the  oldest  in 
New  England,  and  where  interments  began  in  1633.  On 
entering  the  enclosure,  he  will  soon  find  the  Dudley  tomb. 
There  rest  the  remains  of  two  governors,  a  chief-justice,  and 
other  prominent  men  who  bore  that  name.  Thomas  Dudley 
was  an  officer  in  the  English  army  at  the  siege  of  Amiens, 
under  Henry  of  Navarre.  He  came  to  the  Massachusetts 


6 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


Colony  as  Deputy-Governor  in  1630,  and  held  either  that 
position  or  the  office  of  Governor  till  his  death  in  1653.  He 
was  a  man  for  the  times  and  the  place,  a  man  of  decided 
piety,  unbending  integrity,  and  ever  on  the  alert  for  the 
public  welfare.  No  clamor  could  make  him  swerve  a  hair¬ 
breadth.  His  daughter  Anne,  wife  of  Governor  Bradstreet, 
was  a  noted  poet  of  her  day,  and  it  is  to  be  borne  in  mind 
that  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes  and  Richard  H.  Dana  were 
among  her  descendants.  Joseph,  a  son  of  Governor  Thomas 
Dudley,  born  in  Roxbury,  1647,  held  successively  numerous 
public  offices,  including  the  Chief-Justiceship  of  Massachu¬ 
setts,  as  well  as  that  of  New  York,  being  later  Deputy- 
Governor  of  the  Isle  of  Wight.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
British  Parliament,  the  first  native  of  New  England  to  whom 
that  honor  was  accorded,  and  at  length  he  became  Governor 
of  Massachusetts.  His  talents  were  of  a  high  order,  and  few 
men  of  any  period  or  nationality  have  passed  through  greater 
vicissitudes.  His  son,  Paul  Dudley,  studied  law  at  the 
Temple  in  London,  and,  like  his  father,  held  many  public 
offices,  becoming  Chief-Justice  of  Massachusetts,  a  position 
which  he  adorned.  He  was  one  of  the  few  men  in  this 
country  who  have  been  elected  members  of  the  Royal  So¬ 
ciety  of  England.  By  his  will  he  provided  for  the  annual 
Dudleian  lecture  at  Harvard  College,  of  which  institution 
he  was  a  graduate.  The  town  of  Dudley  in  this  state  per¬ 
petuates  the  family  name. 

Other  colonial  governors,  as  well  as  governors  of  the 
Commonwealth,  have  resided  here.  One  who  held  that 


ROXBURY - EARLY  AND  LATER. 


7 


office  from  1741  to  1756  was  William  Shirley,  a  graduate  of 
Cambridge  University,  England,  who  enjoyed  the  favor  of 
Sir  Robert  Walpole  and  the  Duke  of  Newcastle.  He  pro¬ 
jected  the  famous  expedition  which  captured  Louisburg. 
After  serving  as  Governor  of  the  Bahamas,  he  returned  to 
Roxbury  and  died  1771.  Increase  Sumner,  a  graduate  and 
afterwards  master  of  our  Latin  School,  became  senator, 
judge,  and  in  1797  governor  of  the  State.  After  his  last 
election  the  oath  of  office  was  administered  to  him  on  his 
deathbed,  June  7,  1799. 

Eustis  Street  takes  us  to  the  site  of  a  well  known  man¬ 
sion,  that  of  Governor  William  Eustis,  who  was  at  the  Battle 
of  Bunker  Hill,  and  served  as  surgeon  through  the  war.  He 
discharged  various  offices  —  member  of  Congress,  Secretary 
of  War,  Minister  to  Holland  —  dying  while  Governor  of 
Massachusetts.  He  was  noted  for  urbanity  and  hospitality. 
Many  distinguished  men  were  his  guests,  among  them  Gen¬ 
eral  Lafayette,  a  companion  in  arms. 

Heath  Street  reminds  us  of  Major-General  Heath,  who 
bore  the  name  William,  as  did  his  immigrant  ancestor  who 
came  to  this  place  in  1636.  For  not  less  than  five  genera¬ 
tions  the  homestead  remained  in  the  family.  John  Heath,  a 
descendant,  was  the  first  treasurer  of  the  Eliot  Church  and 
Society.  It  was  to  General  Heath  that  Washington  en¬ 
trusted  the  command  of  West  Point  after  Arnold’s  treason 
had  been  detected,  and  his  division  of  the  army  was  the  last 
to  be  disbanded  at  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  War. 

But  we  must  go  to  Warren  Street  to  find  the  residence 


8 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


of  one  whose  name  has  numerous  local  mementos,  and  is 
more  widely  known  as  a  hero  of  the  Revolution  than  that  of 
any  other  Roxbury  resident.  The  front  of  a  stone  cottage 
exhibits  two  tablets  with  inscriptions  as  follows :  — 

“  On  this  spot  stood  the  house  erected  in  1720  by  Joseph 
Warren,  of  Boston,  remarkable  for  being  the  birthplace  of 
General  Joseph  Warren,  his  grandson,  who  was  killed  at  the 
battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  June  17,  1775.” 

“John  Warren,  a  distinguished  physician  and  anatomist, 
was  also  born  here.  The  original  mansion  being  in  ruins, 
this  house  was  built  by  John  C.  Warren,  m.d.,  a  son  of  the 
last  named,  as  a  permanent  memorial  of  the  spot.” 


General  Warren,  as  patriot,  exhibited  great  activity, 
guided  by  prudence,  firmness,  and  fearlessness.  Few  men 
in  this  country,  or  any  other  country,  would  have  ventured 
upon  delivering  an  oration  commemorative  of  the  “  Boston 
Massacre  ”  at  such  a  time  as  March  5,  1775.  British  officers 
had  threatened  that  it  should  cost  any  man  his  life  who  dared 
to  do  it.  Capacious  Old  South  Church  was  crowded  to  its 
utmost.  Two  score  British  officers  in  uniform  occupied 
front  pews  or  the  pulpit  stairs.  Fully  self-possessed  and  in 
a  firm  tone  Warren  proceeded  with  his  oration,  most  of  the 
audience  applauding.  One  of  the  officers  on  the  stairs  held 
up  his  hand  with  several  bullets  in  plain  sight.  Without 
interruption  the  speaker  dropped  a  white  handkerchief  on  to 
the  hostile  hand.  In  the  battle  at  Lexington  he  showed 
coolness  and  undaunted  bravery.  At  Bunker  Hill,  though 
a  major-general,  he  preferred  that  Prescott  should  have 


ROXBURY - EARLY  AND  LATER. 


9 


command,  while  he  himself  went  into  the  redoubt  where 
he  fell. 

The  Pierponts  were  at  one  time  among  the  chief  fam¬ 
ilies  of  Roxbury.  Among  descendants  in  Connecticut  were 
distinguished  individuals,  as  Sarah,  daughter  of  Rev.  James 
Pierpont,  of  New  Haven,  who  became  the  wife  of  Jonathan 
Edwards;  Rev.  John  Pierpont,  known  as  poet  and  preacher 
in  Boston;  and  Edwards  Pierpont,  who  became  United 
States  Minister  to  the  court  of  St.  James.  It  is  not  out  of 
place  to  speak  of  Gilbert  Stuart  (born  1756,  died  1828),  the 
most  distinguished  of  American  portrait-painters,  who  was 
here  during  the  War  of  1812.  He  occupied  the  large  square 
house  which  came  into  the  hands  of  Dr.  Robbins,  father  of 
the  late  Rev.  Chandler  Robbins,  d.d.  It  stands  opposite  the 
old  Washington  Schoolhouse,  now  occupied  by  the  Munici¬ 
pal  Court.  In  my  study  hangs  the  portrait  of  Governor 
Caleb  Strong,  by  Stuart. 

The  stately  Gen.  H.  A.  S.  Dearborn,  as  collector  of  the 
port  of  Boston,  Adjutant-General,  member  of  the  Massachu¬ 
setts  Senate  and  of  the  National  Congress,  was  for  many 
years  a  prominent  figure  in  Roxbury.  Mount  Auburn 
Cemetery,  which  took  the  lead  of  such  beautiful  enclosures 
in  our  land,  was  a  good  deal  indebted  to  his  agency  and 
excellent  taste,  while  our  Forest  Hills  Cemetery  is  still  more 
largely  his  debtor.  General  Dearborn  in  his  last  years  occu¬ 
pied  a  house  immediately  in  the  rear  of  the  Eliot  Church, 
though  he  seldom  worshiped  with  us.  Personal  courtesies 
of  his,  such  as  almonds  and  dates  which  a  friend  had  brought 


IO 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


from  Mt.  Sinai,  and  other  neighborly  kindnesses,  are  well 
remembered.  He  was  the  second  mayor  of  Roxbury,  hold¬ 
ing  that  office  from  1847  till  the  time  of  his  death,  1851. 

We  have  now  come  to  comparatively  recent  days,  and 
we  still  confine  our  retrospect  to  that  portion  of  Roxbury 
which  was  the  first  to  be  incorporated  municipally  with 
Boston.  Hence,  nothing  is  said  regarding  “  The  Brook 
Farm  Phalanx  ”  at  West  Roxbury,  which  was  incorporated,  if 
I  mistake  not,  the  same  year  that  I  came  to  the  Eliot  Church, 
and  where  for  a  time  were  George  Ripley,  Thoreau,  Curtis, 
Hawthorne,  and  other  celebrities.  In  the  eastern  section  of 
the  place  there  was  no  more  conspicuous  citizen  than  Lucius 
Manlius  Sargent.  A  man  of  finer  figure  or  more  courtly 
manners  I  never  met,  either  at  home  or  in  foreign  countries. 
He  was  an  excellent  scholar,  a  poet ;  and  by  lecturing,  as 
well  as  by  vigorous  writing,  did  early  good  service  to  the 
cause  of  temperance.  His  effective  “  Temperance  Tales,” 
reaching,  it  is  said,  the  one  hundred  and  thirtieth  edition, 
were  republished  in  England,  Scotland,  Germany,  and  Aus¬ 
tralia.  His  death,  at  eighty  years  of  age,  occurred  in  1867. 
A  member  of  Mr.  Sargent’s  family  worshiped  with  us, 
usually  bringing  one  or  more  of  the  grandchildren. 

Another,  also  a  poet  and  able  advocate  of  temperance, 
was  Mr.  Samuel  G.  Goodrich,  known  so  widely  as  “  Peter 
Parley,”  a  very  gentlemanly  and  valuable  acquaintance,  and 
a  singularly  entertaining  writer.  He  was  the  author  of  one 
hundred  and  seventy  volumes,  of  which  millions,  literally 
millions,  of  copies  have  been  sold.  So  popular  were  the 


ROXBURY - EARLY  AND  LATER. 


II 


genuine  books  in  England  that  multitudes  of  a  spurious 
article  attributed  to  “  Peter  Parley  ”  found  currency.  The 
daughter  of  Mr.  Goodrich,  a  superior  young  woman,  joined 
the  Eliot  Church  in  1842. 

Kearsarge  Avenue  perpetuates  the  memory  of  the  naval 
steamer  which  sank  the  confederate  cruiser  Alabama  (June 
19,  1864),  in  command  of  Commodore,  afterwards  Rear 
Admiral,  John  A.  Winslow.  In  honor  of  that  achievement, 
the  avenue  on  which  his  house  stood  received  the  name  it 
now  bears. 

Roxbury  has  a  name  in  the  missionary  world.  Samuel 
Newell,  a  studious  boy  in  the  family  of  Mr.  Ralph  Smith, 
then  living  at  the  head  of  Pynchon  Street,  received  encour¬ 
agement  from  Mr.  John  A.  Lowell,  an  uncle  of  James 
Russell  Lowell,  and  prepared  for  Harvard  College  when  Dr. 
N.  S.  Prentiss  was  master  of  our  Latin  School.  He  was  the 
first  graduate  of  Harvard  who  became  a  missionary  of  the 
American  Board,  embarking  for  India,  February  19,  1812. 
With  Gordon  Hall  he  engaged  at  Bombay  upon  a  Marathi 
New  Testament,  in  1817,  which,  however,  was  not  published 
until  1826.  Dr.  Prentiss  took  great  interest  in  Newell. 
When  the  young  missionary  came  to  the  house  of  his  in¬ 
structor  for  a  farewell  call,  he  found  a  plank  extending  from 
the  hall  door  to  the  doctor’s  office.  Walking  across  that  he 
made  a  misstep  and  planted  his  foot  on  the  fresh-painted 
floor.  Whenever  that  floor  was  re-painted  in  subsequent 
years  the  doctor  would  not  allow  the  footprint  to  be  oblit¬ 
erated.  Newell  died  of  cholera,  1821,  and  was  buried  in  the 


12 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


English  cemetery  at  Bombay.  In  1853  I  searched  unsuc¬ 
cessfully  for  his  grave. 

But  the  Roxbury  name  most  extensively  known  through 
the  Christian  world  is  that  of  John  Eliot,  the  Apostle  of  the 
Indians.  More  lives  of  him  and  more  sketches  in  volumes 
of  collective  biography  —  between  one  and  two  score,  some 
in  foreign  tongues  —  have  appeared  than  of  any  other  mis¬ 
sionary.  Among  sundry  current  inaccuracies  relating  to 
Eliot  are  these :  for  example,  that  he  devoted  himself  almost 
exclusively  to  the  Indians,  and  that  they  were  of  the  Iro¬ 
quois  group ;  whereas  for  more  than  half  a  century  Eliot 
was  a  faithful  pastor  of  the  First  Church ;  and  the  Red  Men 
for  whom  he  labored  were  quite  distinct  from  the  Six 
Nations.  That  so  early  in  the  wilderness  days  of  New 
England  he  should,  from  no  human  suggestion,  master  a 
barbarous  language,  one  of  the  most  difficult  then  known, 
reduce  the  same  to  writing,  and  introduce  into  it  the  sixty-six 
books  of  our  Sacred  Scriptures ;  that  his  philanthropic  labor 
among  savage  tribes,  and  his  preaching  in  their  uncouth 
tongue  should  result  in  numerous  christianized  settlements 
known  as  “  Praying  Towns,”  and  this  while  he  ministered  to 
a  growing  congregation  of  intelligent  English  people,  has  no 
parallel  in  the  history  of  sixteen  hundred  years.  His  first 
sermon  to  the  natives  was  the  first  Protestant  sermon  in  any 
North  American  language;  and  his  Indian  Bible  the  first 
printed  in  this  new  world.  A  perfect  sample  of  the  book 
now  commands  not  less  than  one  thousand  dollars.  At  the 
end  of  his  Indian  Grammar  is  found  the  noteworthy  sen- 


ROXBURY - EARLY  AND  LATER. 


r3 


tence,  “  Prayer  and  pains,  through  faith  in  Christ  Jesus,  will 
do  anything.”  “Welcome  joy!”  were  Eliot’s  last  words  at 
the  age  of  eighty-six,  May  20,  1690.  Robert  Southey  pro¬ 
nounced  him  “  One  of  the  most  remarkable  men  of  any 
country.” 


CHAPTER  II. 


LOCAL  ORTHODOXY  AND  LIBERALISM. 

The  Eliot  Church  was  organized  about  the  time  (1834) 
that  the  Unitarian  controversy  in  Massachusetts  culminated. 
Universalism  was  also  then  becoming  more  aggressive,  and 
taking  an  organized  form.  Germs  of  the  noteworthy  de¬ 
velopment  of  liberalism,  so  called,  had  existed  for  a  long 
time.  The  preaching  of  Whitfield  and  other  earnest  evan¬ 
gelical  men,  the  writings  of  Edwards,  Bellamy,  the  Tenants, 
and  men  of  kindred  spirit,  the  Great  Awakening,  and  later 
revivals  served  for  a  time  to  check  development.  But  after 
our  war  of  the  Revolution,  amidst  the  spread  of  French 
infidelity,  and  amidst  the  decay  of  religion,  such  as  usually 
attends  or  follows  war,  the  leaven  of  Arianism  and  Socini- 
anism,  which  had  been  introduced  as  early  as  the  middle 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  worked  with  less  restraint.  It 
was,  however,  many  years  before  public  avowal  became  at 
all  common  in  Boston  or  elsewhere  in  the  Commonwealth. 
Silence  regarding  distinctive  evangelical  truths,  the  usual 
early  policy  of  errorists  was,  for  the  most  part,  maintained 
in  the  pulpit.  The  first  church  this  side  of  the  Atlantic 
to  take  a  formal  stand  on  the  Unitarian  basis  was  the 
earliest  Episcopal  church  in  New  England,  King’s  Chapel, 
now  Stone  Chapel,  Boston.  That  occurred  in  1785.  James 
Freeman,  grandfather  of  the  late  James  Freeman  Clarke, 


LOCAL  ORTHODOXY  AND  LIBERALISM.  1 5 

had  explicitly  avowed  Unitarianism,  and,  in  the  absence 
of  sufficient  outside  sympathy,  he  received  ordination  at 
the  hands  of  the  Vestry.  The  transition  of  the  First 
Church,  Roxbury,  from  its  Calvinistic  attitude  to  Liberal¬ 
ism  appears  to  have  taken  place  at  the  close  of  the 
eighteenth  century  and  the  first  years  of  the  nineteenth. 
The  convention  sermon,  by  Dr.  Eliphalet  Porter,  pastor 
of  that  church,  was  among  the  earlier  public  disclosures 
of  a  change  which  had  been  quietly  going  on  in  this 
neighborhood. 

Meanwhile,  a  spiritual  quickening  became  manifest 
among  our  churches,  from  1797  onward.  Evangelical 
Christians  began  to  arouse.  Religious  interests,  both  local 
and  remote,  were  taking  a  deeper  hold  of  men’s  hearts,  and 
were  leading  to  combined  efforts.  Missionary  societies* 
Bible  societies,  as  well  as  magazines  for  promoting  such 
institutions  and  a  higher  spiritual  life,  were  started.  Re¬ 
striction  upon  the  previous  indiscriminate  exchange  of  pul¬ 
pits  commenced.  The  frank  and  decided  stand  taken  by 
Dr.  John  Codman  in  accepting  a  call  to  the  Second  Church, 
Dorchester,  which  was  organized  January  1,  1808,  entitled 
him  to  a  grateful  and  enduring  veneration.  He  made 
known  seasonably  and  in  written  form  his  religious  beliefs. 
So  fully  was  it  done  that  no  one  could  mistake  his  position 
regarding  the  doctrines  of  grace,  some  of  which  had  begun 
to  be  publicly  controverted.  “  I  have  made  this  communi¬ 
cation,  my  dear  Christian  friends  and  brethren,”  he  declared* 
“  to  prevent  any  misunderstanding  between  us ;  I  wish  you 


i6 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


to  know  the  sentiments  of  the  man  you  have  chosen  to  be 
your  pastor.”  The  parish  in  their  written  reply  stated  that 
his  communication  was  received  “  with  pleasure  and  general 
satisfaction.”  At  the  time  of  Dr.  Codman’s  installation 
it  was  therefore  perfectly  understood  what  were  his  reli¬ 
gious  views.  Dr.  Channing  preached  the  ordination  ser¬ 
mon,  an  excellent  and  not  unevangelical  discourse.  Because 
of  “  multitudes  perishing  in  their  sins,”  he  would  “  direct 
men  to  the  cross,”  to  “  the  Son  of  God  expiring,  a  victim 
on  the  cross ;  ”  he  spoke  of  “  a  world  of  sinners  perishing 
with  the  most  loathsome  diseases,”  of  “heaven  gladdened 
by  the  tidings  that  a  sinner  has  repented,”  and  of  its  being 
possible  that  a  minister  might  “  die  self-deceived,  and,  with 
those  whom  he  has  helped  to  destroy,  hear  the  words, 
‘  Depart  with  them  far  from  me  into  everlasting  fire.’  ‘  O 
scene  of  agony !  ’  ” 

The  same  year  (1808)  Andover  Theological  Seminary, 
an  obvious  need  and  designed  expressly  to  be  a  bulwark 
of  the  evangelical  faith,  was  opened.  The  next  twelve- 
month  saw  Park  Street  Church,  Boston,  constituted,  and 
on  the  avowed  basis  of  a  “  decided  attachment  to  that 
system  of  the  Christian  religion  which  is  distinguishingly 
denominated  evangelical,  more  particularly  to  those  doc¬ 
trines  which  in  the  proper  sense  are  styled  doctrines  of 
grace.” 

Such  distinctive  declarations  and  ecclesiastical  pro¬ 
ceedings  administered  a  rebuke  to  defection  from  the 
faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints.  The  cry  of  “  schism,” 


LOCAL  ORTHODOXY  AND  LIBERALISM. 


*7 


“  exclusiveness,”  “  illiberality,”  “  bigotry,”  was  awakened. 
Another  year  goes  by  and  the  American  Board  of  Missions 
was  formed  (1810);  but  neither  among  its  original  corpo¬ 
rators  nor  during  the  first  fourscore  years  of  its  history 
was  any  known  Liberal  or  apologist  for  Liberalism  elected 
to  membership.  Our  pioneer  foreign  missionaries,  Hall 
and  Nott,  had  hardly  arrived  at  Bombay  (1813),  and  sent 
to  Sir  Evan  Nepean,  the  Governor,  a  remonstrance  against 
their  being  ordered  out  of  India  and  compelled  to  embark 
for  England,  when  there  appeared  in  London  an  ordinary 
book,  Belsham’s  Memoir  of  Lindsey ,  in  the  usual  course  of 
publication.  It  attracted  little  attention  in  England.  But 
a  pamphlet  made  up  wholly  of  extracts  from  the  book  came 
not  long  after  from  the  press  here  in  Boston.  The  extracts 
were  taken  from  letters  of  ministers  this  side  the  ocean 
to  their  friends  in  the  mother  country.  These  served  to 
present  a  view  of  “  The  Progress  and  Present  State  of  the 
Unitarian  Churches  in  America.”  Never  did  a  quiet  little 
production  lead  to  more  stirring  results.  Whatever  may 
have  been  the  motives  and  policy  of  previous  comparative 
silence  here  at  home,  this  refluent  wave  from  England 
proved  the  precursor  of  a  high  tide  of  excitement.  A  reve¬ 
lation  was  made.  Earnest  discussion  began  in  the  pulpit, 
in  the  periodical  press,  and  in  pamphlet  form.  Vehemence 
of  debate  did  not  always  duly  respect  the  demands  of 
Christian  courtesy.  It  was  both  amusing  and  painful  then, 
as  it  has  been  since,  to  note  opprobrious  charges  made  by 
Liberals  against  the  Orthodox.  Even  a  leader  so  eminent, 


1 8 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


so  revered  and  idolized  as  Dr.  Channing  could  sometimes 
indulge  in  reprehensible  language.  Eighteen  hundred  and 
fifteen  found  him  so  far  advanced  from  1808,  at  Dorchester, 
on  the  down  grade  as  to  impute  a  grave  delinquency1  to 
Jeremiah  Evarts,  who,  on  the  score  of  sterling  character, 
balanced  self-possession,  and  candor,  was  inferior  to  no 
man  in  the  community. 

Did  the  controversial  writings  of  that  period  contain  a 
more  unfounded  statement  than  this,  “  He  [the  learner]  is 
told  to  listen  to  Christ ;  but  told  that  he  will  be  damned  if 
he  receives  any  lessons  but  such  as  are  taught  in  the 
creeds.”  2  His  party  did  not  then,  and  still  less  does  the 
denomination  now,  regard  Dr.  Channing  as  a  theologian, 
properly  so  called.  Without  having  a  very  well-defined  sys¬ 
tem  he  appears  to  have  been  an  Arian.3  It  would  seem 
that  some  who  were  equally  or  yet  farther  removed  from  the 
orthodox  position  continued  to  fail  of  avowing  frankly  where 
they  did  stand.4 

The  existing  generation  is  less  familiar  with  the  re¬ 
ligious  history  of  this  neighborhood  during  the  first  half  of 


1  “  It  is  a  feeling  as  if  I  were  degrading  myself  by  noticing  the  false  and 
injurious  charges  contained  in  this  review.”  Letter  to  Rev.  Samuel  C.  Thatcher. 

2  Remarks  on  Creeds ,  Intolerance  and  Exclusion. 

3  “  Dr.  Channing  was  in  doctrine  an  Arian,  believing  in  the  pre-existence  of 
Christ,  and  assigning  an  efficacy  to  his  death  over  and  above  its  moral  influence.” 
Dr.  Wm.  Ware  in  American  Unitarian  Biography. 

*  “  There  was,  I  fear,  a  good  deal  of  intellectual  and  social  cowardice,  a  good 
deal  of  shameful  silence  and  verbal  ingenuity,  if  haply  the  reproach  of  believing 
such  good  things  of  God  as  those  of  the  Universalists,  might  not  come  upon  the 
Unitarians,  or  be  taken  away.”  Chadwick’s  Old  and  New  Unitarian  Belief. 


LOCAL  ORTHODOXY  AND  LIBERALISM.  1 9 

the  present  century  than  with  its  civil  history  in  the  second 
half  of  the  last  century.  Lexington,  Bunker  Hill  and  the 
Siege  of  Boston  have  ample  place  in  our  school  books. 
The  condition  of  things  at  that  period,  especially  in  Eastern 
Massachusetts,  cannot  be  understood,  nor  will  be  even 
imagined  without  a  glance  at  two  conspicuous  events. 
Neither  does  charity  require  nor  do  truth  and  honor  allow 
silence  here.  Instead,  however,  of  an  adequate  statement, 
the  merest  epitome  is  all  that  present  space  will  allow.  Of 
the  two  events  having  special  significance  in  the  revolu¬ 
tion  then  taking  place,  one  was  the  capture  of  Harvard  Col¬ 
lege  by  the  Liberals,  as  they  were  pleased  to  call  themselves. 
The  atmosphere  of  that  institution  from  being  Calvinistic 
had  become  Arminian,  and  a  religious  lukewarmness  verg¬ 
ing  upon  indifference  prevailed.  The  President  and  some 
of  the  Faculty  sympathized  with  anti-trinitarianism.  In 
1805  Dr.  Henry  Ware  took  his  seat  as  Hollis  professor  of 
divinity  in  the  College.  It  was  well  known  that  he  had 
sided  with  the  Liberal  wing.  But  no  attempt  had  been 
made  for  a  year  to  fill  the  chair  which  by  the  death  of  his 
predecessor  became  vacant,  till  two  deaths  of  evangelical 
members  of  the  corporation  gave  opportunity  to  fill  their 
place  with  Liberals.  Strenuous  opposition  to  Dr.  Ware’s 
appointment  was  naturally  made.  All  knew  well  that  the 
College  had  been  established  and  previously  maintained  in 
the  interests  of  Puritanism.  The  chair  of  theology  was 
founded  (1723)  by  Thomas  Hollis,  the  occupant  being 
required  to  “  Profess  and  teach  the  principles  of  the  Chris- 


20 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


tian  religion  according  to  the  well-known  confession  of  faith 
drawn  up  by  the  synod  of  churches  in  New  England.”  The 
governing  authorities  have  probably  never  had  a  more 
embarrassing  problem  before  them  than  the  task  of  making 
that  transfer  to  Unitarianism  appear  to  have  been  an  honor¬ 
able  transaction. 

The  other  event,  noteworthy  for  certain  exasperating 
results,  was  the  famous  Dedham  case.  Upon  the  first  elec¬ 
tion  of  a  Unitarian  minister  at  Dedham  a  majority  of  the 
church  members  withdrew,  retaining  naturally  the  church 
records,  communion  furniture  and  whatever  pertained  to 
them  rightfully  as  a  church.  The  Supreme  Court  of  Massa¬ 
chusetts  decided  (1820)  that  “  When  a  majority  of  the  mem¬ 
bers  of  a  Congregational  church  separate  from  the  majority 
of  the  parish,  the  members  who  remain,  although  a  minority, 
constitute  the  Church  in  such  parish,  and  retain  the  rights 
and  property  belonging  thereto.”  The  view  taken  of  this 
by  multitudes  of  right-minded,  well-informed  men  in  New 
England  was  that  flagrant  injustice  had  been  committed. 
Among  pertinent,  vital  facts  are  the  following:  From  the 
outset  of  colonial  times  the  church  had  been  regarded  and 
treated  as  an  independent  body  in  admitting  and  dismissing 
its  members,  electing  its  officers  and  controlling  such  prop¬ 
erty  as  belonged  to  itself.  The  church  always  chose  its 
pastor,  never  admitting  a  right  in  the  parish  to  impose  a 
pastor  upon  the  church.  The  earliest  church  of  the  Pilgrims 
was  organized  before  they  set  foot  on  Plymouth  Rock.  The 
church  in  Rowley  came  as  a  corporate  body  from  Yorkshire, 


LOCAL  ORTHODOXY  AND  LIBERALISM. 


21 


England.  The  first  church  in  Dorchester  came  similarly 
constituted  to  the  Massachusetts  colony,  and  afterwards 
removed  to  Connecticut.  At  the  time  there  was  no  parish 
in  connection  with  any  one  of  these.  Not  till  many  years 
after  settlements  in  New  England  began  did  parishes  come 
into  existence  here.  “  Through  all  this  period  the  churches 
not  only  chose  their  own  ministers,  but  contracted  with 
them  and  supported  them.  They  built  and  owned  the  first 
meeting  houses  and  had  the  power  of  levying  and  collecting 
money  for  this  object.”  1  More  than  twenty  years  elapsed 
before  parochial  power  was  given  to  the  towns.  (1652) 
The  First  Church  in  Boston,  for  example  —  gathered  in 
1630  —  for  nearly  a  century  “was  alone  concerned  in  fixing 
the  minister’s  salary,  and  making  all  pecuniary  appropria¬ 
tions.”  2 

At  one  period  (1631-1664)  there  existed  the  require¬ 
ment  of  church  membership  as  a  qualification  for  citizenship 
and  hence  for  civil  office.  That  unwise  theocratic  experi¬ 
ment,  however,  gave  place  to  a  more  appropriate  arrange¬ 
ment.  But  among  facts  fundamental  from  first  to  last  are 
these  be  it  said  once  more :  Congregational  churches  had 
existence  separate  from  congregations,  parishes,  precincts  or 
towns ;  by  common  consent,  common  law,  and  at  length  by 
statute  they  had  sole  right  of  internal  administration,  includ¬ 
ing  the  right  to  elect  their  own  pastor,  and  to  hold  property 
given  for  church  purposes.  Those  rights  they  never  volun- 


1  Quoted  in  Clark’s  Congregational  Churches  in  Massachusetts,  pp.  326-27. 

2  Emerson’s  History  of  the  First  Church . 


22 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


tarily  surrendered,  nor  could  they  lose  them  except  by  usur¬ 
pation  from  without.  And  yet  referring  to  the  earliest  New 
England  period,  Chief  Justice  Parker  affirmed,  “Without 
doubt  the  whole  assembly  were  considered  the  church.” 
Whereas  without  doubt  they  were  not  so  considered,  unless 
they  —  as  in  a  few  instances  —  entered  publicly  and  ex¬ 
pressly  into  covenant  relations.  Very  seldom  did  they  start 
in  that  way.  The  First  Church  in  the  Massachusetts 
Colony,  that  in  Salem,  numbered  at  the  outset  only  thirty 
communicants,  while  the  congregation,  out  of  which  the 
covenanting  body  was  gathered,  consisted  of  three  hundred 
and  fifty  persons.  But  Chief  Justice  Parker,  apparently 
ignorant  of  such  facts,  declared  in  the  Dedham  decision, 
that  “  A  church  cannot  subsist  without  some  religious  com¬ 
munity  to  which  it  is  attached.  Such  has  been  the  under¬ 
standing  of  the  people  of  New  England  from  the  foundation 
of  the  colonies.” 

No  voluntary  action  of  the  churches  ever  surrendered 
their  independence  so  far  as  concerns  the  election  and  dis¬ 
mission  of  their  pastors,  the  ownership  of  their  records  and 
communion  furniture;  nor  had  any  civil  authority  claimed 
or  attempted  to  exercise  a  right  to  disenfranchise  churches, 
and  to  make  their  very  existence  a  mere  annex  to  a  parish. 
A  formal  act  of  incorporation  has  not  always  been  required 
to  give  corporate  capacity  to  a  body  of  men.  Under  com¬ 
mon  law,  which  is  general  custom,  churches  possessed  the 
right  and  exercised  the  privilege  of  holding  certain  species 
of  property,  and  were  thus  recognized  as  corporate  bodies. 


LOCAL  ORTHODOXY  AND  LIBERALISM. 


23 


“  And  yet  the  only  circumstance  ”  —  so  declared  the  Chief 
Justice  —  “which  gives  a  church  any  legal  character  is  its 
connection  with  some  regularly  constituted  Society ;  ”  “  As 
to  all  civil  purposes,  the  secession  of  a  whole  church  from 
the  parish  would  be  an  extinction  of  the  church.” 

The  obvious  injustice  of  the  Dedham  decision  produced 
a  widespread  shock,  a  shock  not  confined  to  religious  com¬ 
munities  immediately  concerned.  Disinterested  men  of 
acknowledged  eminence  at  the  bar  and  on  the  bench  shared 
in  the  prevalent  surprise  and  criticism.  “  In  a  letter  from 
one  of  the  judges  of  Maine,  received  in  the  year  1829,  the 
writer  says,  ‘  The  Dedham  case  was  a  bold  stroke.  It 
astonished  me.  I  first  saw  it  merely  touched  upon  in  a 
Boston  newspaper ;  and  in  a  letter  to  one  of  the  judges  I 
asked  whether  the  statement  in  the  newspaper  could  be 
correct.  I  told  him  that  I  hoped  not;  for  if  correct  it 
seemed  to  me  a  declaration  of  war  against  all  evangelical 
churches.’  ” 

In  a  letter  from  a  distinguished  lawyer  in  the  eastern 
part  of  Massachusetts  the  same  year,  referring  to  the  Ded¬ 
ham  case,  the  writer  says :  “  This  strange  and  unexpected 
decision,  which  has  shocked  the  plain  sense  of  good  men 
wherever  it  has  been  known,  has  never  been  well  received  or 
acquiesced  in  by  the  bar,  or  by  intelligent  lawyers  of  the 
Commonwealth.  The  doctrine  by  which  the  decision  is 
attempted  to  be  supported  appears  to  us  not  less  novel, 
strange  and  untenable,  than  the  decision  itself,  and  we 
regard  both  doctrine  and  decision  in  the  light  of  mere 


24 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


assumption,  or  —  what  is  quite  as  offensive  —  of  judicial 
legislation.” 

Before  the  Dedham  decision  there  had  been  cases  of. 
like  grievous  character.  For  example,  in  Sandwich  the 
parish  by  a  vote  of  eighty-three  to  eighty  declared  the  evan¬ 
gelical  pastor  dismissed,  and  he  was  prevented  by  force  from 
entering  the  pulpit.  Only  one-tenth  of  the  church  members 
adhered  to  the  Unitarian  parish.  The  church  embracing 
nine-tenths  of  the  body  when  their  pastor  was  ejected,  was 
afterwards  compelled  to  surrender  their  communion  furni¬ 
ture  and  all  monies  in  the  hands  of  the  deacons.  What  was 
deemed  virtual  spoliation,  though  having  a  form  of  legal 
sanction,  now  (1820)  went  on  unobstructed.  Not  less  than 
eighty-one  churches  might  be  enumerated,  which,  on  the 
basis  of  evangelical  belief,  either  withdrew  or  were  driven 
from  parishes  that  introduced  a  liberal  ministry.  Their 
communion  furniture  and  all  other  property  distinctively 
their  own,  as  well  as  property  of  which  they  were  joint 
owners,  had  to  be  surrendered  to  the  Unitarian  parish.  In 
some  instances  the  means  employed  for  ejecting  an  Ortho¬ 
dox  minister  and  driving  his  adherents  into  exile,  were  as 
far  removed  as  can  well  be  conceived  from  anything  reputa¬ 
ble.  Men  who  had  not  been  inside  the  meeting-house  for 
years  were  induced  to  come  and  vote  against  Orthodoxy. 
Ardent  spirits  and  kindred  inducements  were  said  to  be 
here  and  there  employed.1  There  were  cases  not  a  few  in 
which  special  incongruity  would  seem  laughable,  but  for  the 


1  Clark’s  Congregational  Churches.  300-304. 


LOCAL  ORTHODOXY  AND  LIBERALISM. 


25 


gravity  of  inhering  injustice.  For  instance,  in  Ashley,  the 
church  embracing  one  hundred  and  one  of  the  members, 
being  unwilling  to  sit  under  Unitarian  ministrations,  with¬ 
drew  from  the  parish.  One  male  member,  ninety  years  of 
age,  and  eight  females  remained  with  the  parish,  and  under 
decisions  of  the  court  were  entitled  to  the  name  property, 
and  all  rights  of  the  church. 

It  is  gratifying  to  be  able  to  say  that  such  proceedings 
as  have  been  referred  to  would  probably  not  now  be  repeated, 
whatever  occasion  might  arise.  It  remains  true,  however, 
that  the  party,  to  which  numerical  and  pecuniary  benefits 
inured,  has  never  repudiated  the  process.  They  generally 
find  it  convenient  to  say  but  little  about  the  merits  of  the 
original  decision  and  of  others  based  upon  it.  It  is  only  an 
occasional  instance  of  rare  candor  on  the  subject  that  we 
meet  with.  It  should  be  added  that  many  other  parishes,  as 
well  as  minorities  of  the  eighty-one  churches  particularly 
referred  to,  joined  the  Unitarian  ranks. 

But  during  the  period  of  early  discussion  and  embar¬ 
rassing  ecclesiastical  changes  (1810-1835),  there  was  a  re¬ 
markable  and  most  gratifying  development  of  evangelical 
energy.  The  loss  of  so  many  places  of  worship  with  their 
hallowed  associations,  and  the  loss  of  so  much  other  prop¬ 
erty,  accompanied  by  a  stinging  sense  of  wrong,  roused  a 
spirit  of  sacrifice.  Not  for  over  a  century  had  there  been 
such  recognition  of  religious  kinship,  or  such  vigorous  coop¬ 
eration  for  the  maintenance  of  evangelical  truth.  While  at 
one  time  there  was  only  a  single  church  in  Boston  resting 


26 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


on  the  old  foundations  of  belief,  by  the  year  1828  there  were 
eight  such.  Far  more  churches  were  formed  and  more 
church  buildings  erected  during  that  than  during  any  other 
equal  period  in  New  England  history.  The  evangelicals 
organized  or  re-organized  one  hundred  and  ninety-three 
churches,  and  built  an  equal  number  of  places  of  worship. 
The  disruption  of  the  Scottish  church,  which  took  place  not 
far  from  the  end  of  those  twenty-five  years,  had  points  of 
analogy. 


CHAPTER  III. 


PRELIMINARIES  AND  ORGANIZATION. 

The  doctrinal  discussion  centering  for  years  chiefly  in 
Eastern  Massachusetts  clarified  our  religious  atmosphere. 
Lines  of  denominational  latitude  were  defined.  A  spirit 
of  evangelistic  enterprise  was  awakened.  The  Orthodox 
were  aroused  to  the  requirements  of  church  extension,  and 
the  conviction  was  more  firmly  settled  that  the  precious 
faith  which  had  been  passing  through  a  fiery  trial  was 
worthy  of  strenuous  self-sacrifice.  An  outward  current  of 
population  from  Boston  directed  attention  to  suburban 
needs,  and  in  no  quarter  immediately  connected  with  the 
city  was  that  current  stronger  than  on  the  Roxbury  side. 
The  attractions  were  obvious.  Connection  by  land,  with¬ 
out  bridge  or  ferry,  had  for  one  thing  an  advantage.  Here, 
too,  were  more  elevation  and  variety  of  surface,  more  eligi¬ 
ble  sites  for  building  and  landscape-gardening  purposes. 
It  was  a  natural  result  that  in  the  second  and  third  decades 
of  the  present  century  churches  should  begin  to  multiply 
in  this  neighborhood.  The  first  pastor  of  the  Universalist 
Society  was  installed  in  182 1.1  An  evangelical  brotherhood, 

1  PASTORS. 

Hosea  Ballou,  2d.,  d.d.  July  26,  1821.  Resigned,  April  28,  1838. 

Asher  Moore.  January,  1839.  Resigned,  1840. 

Cyrus  H.  Fay.  January,  1841.  Resigned,  March  26,  1849. 

William  H.  Ryder,  d.d.  November,  1849.  Resigned,  January,  1859. 


) 


28 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


the  present  Dudley  Street  Baptist  Church,  received  in  1822 
the  first  of  its  series  of  pastors.1  Some  years  before  this  Dr. 
Ebenezer  Burgess  of  Dedham  walked  the  streets  of  Rox- 
bury  in  company  with  Rev.  Samuel  Greene  of  Boston,  in 
consultation  regarding  the  practicability  of  an  evangelical 
church  here.  Ten  years  later  (May  13,  1832)  came  the  St. 
James’  Episcopal  Church  with  fourteen  members.2  Simul¬ 
taneously  a  movement  began  which  resulted  in  the  forma¬ 
tion  of  the  Eliot  Church.  At  that  period  a  lively  church 
fellowship  existed,  and  conference  was  usually  sought  with 
reference  to  the  expediency  and  location  of  new  churches. 
A  few  Roxbury  gentlemen  met  in  the  Cowper  Committee 

J.  G.  Bartholomew,  d.d.  July  19,  i860.  Resigned,  January  1,  1866. 

Adoniram  J.  Patterson,  d.d.  September,  1866.  Resigned,  June  1,  1888. 

Everett  L.  Rexford.  June  1,  1888.  Resigned,  December  1,  1894. 

Frederick  W.  Hamilton.  September  1,  1895. 

'pastors. 

Joseph  Eliot.  April  10,  1822.  Resigned,  June  24,  1824. 

William  Leverett.  January  20,  1825.  Resigned,  July,  1839. 

Thomas  Ford  Caldicott,  d.d.  June,  1840.  Resigned,  April  8,  1848. 

Thomas  Davis  Anderson,  d.d.  June,  1848.  Resigned,  October,  1861. 

Henry  Melville  King,  d.d.  April  12,  1863.  Resigned,  December  20,  1881. 

John  Mahan  English.  March,  1882.  Resigned,  August  22,  1882. 

Albert  Knight  Potter,  d.d.  February,  1883.  Resigned,  September  13,  1886. 

Thomas  Dixon,  Jr.  December  1,  1887.  Resigned,  April  16,  1889. 

Adolph  S.  Gumbart,  d.d.  January,  1890.  Died,  March  19,  1899. 

W.  W.  Bustard.  January  18,  1900. 

2  RECTORS. 

Mark  Anthony  DeWolfe  Howe.  January  1,  1833.  Resigned,  January  1,  1847. 

John  Wayland,  d.d.  January  1,  1847.  Resigned,  January  1,  1859. 

George  Sherman  Converse.  June  1,  1859.  Resigned,  June  1,  1871. 

Percy  Browne.  January  1,  1872. 


PRELIMINARIES  AND  ORGANIZATION. 


29 


Room,  November  20,  1833,  with  others  residing  in  Boston, 
for  consultation  and  action  having  reference  to  a  place  of 
public  worship  for  Congregationalists  living  here.1  A  reso¬ 
lution  was  unanimously  adopted  to  purchase  a  lot  of  land 
and  erect  thereon  a  house  for  the  purpose  named.  Meas¬ 
ures  were  at  once  taken  to  establish  lectures  by  neighboring 
evangelical  clergymen  Sunday  and  Thursday  evenings,  and 
these  were  attended  by  a  small  yet  constantly  increasing 
number.  The  first  service  with  preaching  was  held  Decem¬ 
ber  29,  1833.  Drs.  N.  Adams,  L.  Beecher,  Blagden,  Bur¬ 
gess,  Codman,  S.  E.  Dwight,  Jenks  and  Winslow  were 
prominent  among  those  who  encouraged  the  movement  by 
personal  ministration.  The  place  of  gathering  was  the 
upper  hall  of  Spear’s  Academy,  a  stone  building,2  next  to 
which  our  permanent  place  of  worship  was  afterwards  built. 
The  next  May,  at  a  meeting  held  in  the-  Old  South  Chapel, 


1  Sirs  :  —  You  are  invited  to  attend  a  meeting  of  gentlemen  at  the  Cowper 
Committee  Room  on  Wednesday  evening,  November  20th  (this  evening),  at  7 
o’clock,  to  consider  the  expediency  of  aiding  the  friends  of  evangelical  truth  in 
Roxbury  in  establishing  an  Evangelical  Congregational  Church  and  Society  in 
that  village,  and  to  take  such  measures  relative  to  the  subject  as  the  meeting 
may  deem  expedient. 

John  Doggett. 

Pliny  Cutler. 

Geo.  W.  Blagden. 

Charles  Scudder. 

Henry  Hill. 

Daniel  Noyes. 

Dr.  Burgess  came  from  Dedham  to  attend  that  meeting. 

2  Later  the  hall  was  bought  by  the  city,  and  having  been  remodelled,  was 
occupied  by  the  Dudley  School,  and  yet  later  by  the  Girls’  High  School.  The 
brick  addition  in  front  was  put  up  afterwards. 


3° 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


a  subscription  was  opened  with  reference  to  raising  twelve 
thousand  dollars  toward  the  erection  of  a  house  of  worship. 
Meetings  for  business  and  devotional  exercises  were  also 
held  in  Roxbury.  Entire  unanimity  existed,  and  the  move¬ 
ment  toward  organizing  a  Congregational  Church  matured 
rapidly.  No  one  was  more  indefatigable  or  more  free  in 
giving  time  and  money  to  the  enterprise  than  Mr.  Alvah 
Kittredge.  This  was  done  in  an  unobtrusive  way.  He  was 
a  man  of  few  words  and  no  noise.  He  had  the  rare  tact  of 
keeping  to  work  quietly  and  efficiently,  without  making 
demonstration  of  himself  and  without  occasioning  friction. 

An  ecclesiastical  council  met  in  the  hall  before  men¬ 
tioned,  September  18,  1834.  In  addition  to  those  specially 
invited  Drs.  Rufus  Anderson  and  B.  B.  Wisner  of  Boston 
were  present;  also  Rev.  Andrew  Reed,  d.d.,  of  London, 
and  Rev.  James  Matheson,  d.d.,  of  Durham,  England,  who 
were  then  visiting  American  churches  as  a  deputation  from 
the  Congregational  Union  of  England  and  Wales. 

Dr.  John  Codman  of  Dorchester  was  chosen  moderator . 
The  Articles  of  Faith  and  the  Covenant  which  had  been 
adopted  were  laid  before  the  Council  and  approved.  The 
examination  and  ordination  of  Mr.  Jacob  Abbott  as  an  evan¬ 
gelist —  being  named  in  the  letter  missive  —  formed  a  part 
of  the  proceedings.  The  examination  of  the  candidate, 
however,  was  not  at  first  deemed  satisfactory.  In  the  pub¬ 
lished  Report  of  the  English  Deputation,1  Dr.  Reed  says  : 

1 Narrative  of  the  Visit  to  the  American  Churches  by  the  Deputation ,  etc. 
Two  Vols.  London,  1835.  Vol.  I,  p.  455. 


PRELIMINARIES  AND  ORGANIZATION.  3 1 

“  The  deliberations  of  the  Council  continued  some  time ; 
but  they  were  confidential.  There  was  a  want  of  una¬ 
nimity  ;  and  it  was  therefore  thought  advisable  to  see  Mr. 
Abbott  again.  The  examinations  were  renewed,  and  ex¬ 
planations  were  candidly  given.  The  candidate  was  then 
requested  to  retire,  and  a  vote  was  taken  ‘  that  the  Council 
do  proceed  to  the  ordination  of  Mr.  Jacob  Abbott.  ’  ” 

On  the  evening  of  the  same  day  public  exercises  were 
held  in  the  Baptist  Church.  An  introductory  address  was 
given  by  Dr.  Burgess  of  Dedham ;  the  prayer  of  consecra¬ 
tion  was  offered  by  Dr.  Codman ;  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Win¬ 
slow  presented  the  right-hand  of  fellowship,  Dr.  Nathaniel 
S.  Prentiss  having  been  previously  designated  to  receive  the 
same  in  behalf  of  the  church.  Of  the  fifty-one  constituent 
members  forty-five  brought  letters  from  twenty  different 
churches,  the  largest  number  from  any  one  being  ten  from 
that  of  Bowdoin  Street,  Boston.  A  Baptist  Church  was 
among  those  which  contributed  to  the  original  membership. 
Six  were  received  on  their  first  public  confession  of  faith. 
Three-fifths  of  the  whole  were  women.  Of  the  brethren  two 
were  ministers  and  two  physicians.  Only  one,  Mr.  John 
Heath,  was  a  native  of  Roxbury,  and  for  many  years  the 
accessions  were  chiefly  from  the  newer  and  transplanted 
population  of  the  place.  In  no  sense  and  to  no  extent  was 
this  an  offshoot,  as  has  been  reported,  from  the  First 
Church. 

The  next  evening  after  those  public  services,  Friday, 
the  nineteenth  of  September,  1834,  was  held  the  first  assem- 


32 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


blage  of  this  newly-organized  brotherhood  for  devotional 
exercises,  which  have  since  been  continued  uniformly  on 
that  week-day  evening  for  more  than  sixty  years.  Kenil¬ 
worth  being  the  name  of  the  street  on  which  the  new  organ¬ 
ization  commenced  worship,  the  good  people  did  not  care  to 
take  that  designation ;  Scott’s  novel,  “  Kenilworth,”  was 
then  much  read.1  The  First  Church,  Roxbury,  belonged  to 
a  different  category;  hence  the  new  enterprise  could  not 
suitably  be  called  the  Second  Church ;  and  so  it  assumed 
the  name  Eliot.  Roxbury  never  had  a  citizen  more 
worthy  of  being  thus  commemorated,  though  the  usage  of 
designating  a  church  of  Christ  by  the  name  of  any  man, 
however  distinguished,  is  not  in  accord  with  the  best  Chris¬ 
tian  taste. 

Mr.  Andrew  S.  March  heads  the  list  of  very  competent 
clerks  of  the  church,2  having  been  chosen  at  the  first  meet¬ 
ing,  and  not  long  afterward  Mr.  John  Heath  was  elected 
treasurer. 


1  Kenilworth  Castle,  as  is  well  known,  was  given  by  Queen  Elizabeth  to 
Robert  Dudley,  Earl  of  Leicester,  her  ambitious  and  noted,  not  to  say  notorious, 
favorite.  Dudley  was  one  of  the  most  conspicuous  names  in  the  early  history  of 
Roxbury  and  of  Massachusetts.  In  1820  Col.  Joseph  Dudley  of  Roxbury  laid 
claim  to  a  Dudley  peerage,  and  sent  an  agent  to  England  with  documents  sus¬ 
taining  the  claim,  but  without  success. 


2  CHURCH  CLERKS. 

Andrew  S.  March.  September  23,  1834.  Resigned,  January  27,  1851. 
Henry  Davenport.  January  27,  1851.  Resigned,  January  25,  1870. 
Ebenezer  W.  Bumstead.  January  25,  1870.  Resigned,  January  29,  1897. 
James  S.  Barrows.  January  29,  1897. 


PRELIMINARIES  AND  ORGANIZATION. 


33 


Our  excellent  corps  of  deacons1  begins  with  the  names 
of  William  G.  Lambert  and  Alvah  Kittredge,  whose  election 
occurred  two  months  subsequent  to  organization. 

With  the  exception  of  not  having  an  installed  pastor, 
the  church  was  thus  fully  equipped  for  service  and  growth. 
Although  the  members  came  from  various  quarters  and 
had  but  little  previous  acquaintance  with  one  another, 
great  harmony  prevailed.  A  spirit  of  enterprise  and  a 
cheerful  effort  in  behalf  of  the  common  weal  reigned 
throughout  the  ranks  of  these  confederated  volunteers.  As 
there  can  be  but  one  period  of  youth  for  an  individual,  so 
with  a  community.  The  peculiar  freshness  and  ardor  of 
feeling  on  the  part  of  such  a  band  engaged  in  a  noble  yet 
arduous  undertaking  cannot  be  expected  to  continue  with¬ 
out  abatement  when  success  has  been  achieved. 

1  DEACONS. 

William  G.  Lambert.  November  6,  1834.  Resigned,  March  12,  1841. 

Alvah  Kittredge.  November  6,  1834.  Died,  1876. 

Henry  Hill.  January  18,  1839.  Resigned,  June  13,  1845. 

Andrew  S.  March.  December  5,  1845.  Resigned,  September  5,  1851. 

Henry  Hill.  May  3,  1850.  Resigned,  April  3,  1857. 

William  W.  Davenport.  June  24,  1853.  Resigned,  May  7,  1858. 

Edward  B.  Huntington.  December  12,  1856.  Resigned,  August  n,  1871. 

Moses  Henry  Day.  December  18,  1857.  Resigned,  February  8,  1867. 

Lucius  H.  Briggs.  December  20,  1861.  Died,  April  17,  1889. 

J.  Russell  Bradford.  February  8,  1867.  Died,  March  12,  1885. 

Charles  W.  Hill.  April  22,  1870.  Died,  November  17,  1896. 

William  F.  Day.  January  2,  1874.  Resigned,  April  5,  1877. 

Timothy  Smith.  November  3,  1876. 

Andrew  Marshall.  November  3,  1876.  Died,  April  2,  1883. 

Alpine  McLean.  November  2,  1883. 

Frederick  C.  Russell.  March  4,  1887. 

William  F.  Day.  March  4,  1887  ;  September  1 5,  1896.  Died,  March  8, 1899. 

Clarence  T.  Mooar.  March  5,  1897. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


FIRST  PASTORAL  SETTLEMENT. 

An  early  question  with  every  newly-organized  church 
is,  Whom  shall  we  have  for  our  pastor  ?  Mr.  Jacob  Abbott, 
having  resigned  his  professorship  in  Amherst  College  and 
having  removed  to  Roxbury,  was  active  in  a  movement  for 
establishing  the  Eliot  Church.  His  ordination  by  the 
council  which  organized  the  Church  was  with  the  express 
understanding  that  he  would  not  come  into  any  official 
relation  to  the  same.  For  the  first  three  months  of  service 
in  supplying  the  pulpit  he  was  paid  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  dollars  and  at  the  same  rate  for  the  remaining  period, 
which  closed  at  the  middle  of  February  the  next  year,  1835. 
Two  months  later  the  Rev.  William  M.  Rogers  of  Town¬ 
send  received  the  first  invitation  to  become  pastor  here. 
There  was  as  yet  no  incorporated  ecclesiastical  society,  but 
the  congregation  concurred  unanimously  in  the  choice.  Mr. 
Rogers,  however,  declined  the  call.  Another  three  months 
went  by  when  a  younger  brother  of  Mr.  Jacob  Abbott,  the 
Rev.  John  Stephen  Cabot  Abbott,  who  had  for  five  years 
ministered  to  the  Calvinistic  Church,  now  Central  Church, 
Worcester,  was  invited  to  take  the  leadership  of  the  Eliot 
brotherhood.  Meanwhile  this  Church  had  assisted  in  the 
installation  of  Mr.  William  M.  Rogers  as  pastor  of  what  was 
then  Franklin  Street  Church,  Boston ;  and  now  he  was 


FIRST  PASTORAL  SETTLEMENT. 


35 


present  (November,  1835)  on  the  council  which  installed 
Mr.  Abbott.  Dr.  Codman  presided,  Dr.  Albro  acting  as 
scribe,  and  Deacon  Charles  Stoddard  as  assistant  scribe. 
The  dedication  of  the  new  house  of  worship  took  place  on 
the  same  occasion.  Mr.  Abbott’s  first  sermon  after  instal¬ 
lation  was  from  Genesis  28:  17,  “  This  is  none  other  but  the 
house  of  God.” 

Only  twenty-one  additions  to  the  original  constituent 
membership  had  been  made  before  the  first  dismission 
occurred,  that  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Josiah  H.  Hammond,  Jan¬ 
uary  19,  1836.  Death  also  began  to  invade  our  ranks.  Mrs. 
Mary  J.  Bowman  was  the  first  to  be  thus  removed.  She 
had  been  received  in  May,  1837,  and  her  four  children  were 
baptized.  Being  confined  to  her  bed  by  sickness  she  re¬ 
ceived  the  Lord’s  Supper  at  her  private  dwelling,  and  just  a 
month  after  that  she  found  herself  where  symbols  are  no 
longer  needed.  During  the  five  years’  ministry  of  Mr.  J.  S. 
C.  Abbott  the  Church  received  accessions  to  the  number  of 
one  hundred  and  fifty-one,  eighty-nine  of  these  being  by  let¬ 
ter.  At  the  time  of  his  settlement  the  salary  was  one  thou¬ 
sand  dollars ;  the  next  year  it  was  raised  to  twelve  hundred 
dollars,  and  in  1837  to  fourteen  hundred.  Mr.  Abbott  ten¬ 
dered  his  resignation  June  2,  1840,  but  upon  request  of  the 
people,  withdrew  the  communication.  After  six  months, 
however,  the  resignation  of  office  was  renewed  and  accepted. 
The  farewell  sermon  was  preached  December  20.  January 
13,  1841,  a  Council  confirmed  the  proceeding. 

At  the  time  of  his  settlement  in  Roxbury  Mr.  Abbott 


36 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


was  thirty  years  of  age,  having  been  born  in  Brunswick,  Me., 
September  15,  1805.  He  graduated  from  Bowdoin  College, 
1825,  and  after  studying  at  the  Andover  Theological  Sem¬ 
inary,  was  ordained  in  1830.  On  leaving  Roxbury  he  had  a 
short  ministry  at  Nantucket;  but  for  the  next  seven  years 
was  associated  with  his  brothers,  Messrs.  Jacob  and  Gorham 
D.  Abbott,  in  conducting  an  institution  for  young  ladies  in 
New  York  City.  Thereafter  he  devoted  himself  to  literary 
labor.  Before  coming  to  Boston  Mr.  Abbott  had  written 
“  The  Mother  at  Home  ”  and  “  The  Child  at  Home.”  Later 
works  from  his  pen  were  chiefly  historical,  as  follows  :  — 

“  Kings  and  Queens :  or  Life  in  the  Palace.” 

“  The  French  Revolution  of  1789.” 

“The  History  of  Napoleon  Bonaparte.”  (2  Vols.) 

“The  History  of  Napoleon  III.” 

Ten  Volumes  of  illustrated  histories. 

“A  History  of  the  Civil  War  in  America.”  (2  Vols.) 

“  Romance  of  Spanish  History.” 

“  The  History  of  Frederick  the  Second ;  called  Freder¬ 
ick  the  Great.” 

Some  of  these  were  translated  into  European  lan¬ 
guages.  Mr.  Abbott  died  at  Fairhaven,  Connecticut,  1877. 


CHAPTER  V. 


SECOND  SETTLEMENT. 

After  Mr.  J.  S.  C.  Abbott’s  retirement  from  Roxbury 
there  was  an  interregnum  of  a  year  and  a  half.  Numerous 
preachers  —  some  of  them  to  the  number  of  forty  as  candi¬ 
dates,  and  some  not  as  candidates  —  occupied  the  pulpit. 
An  extended  period  of  that  sort  is  seldom  of  much  general 
profit  to  the  people,  and  this  instance  formed  no  ex¬ 
ception. 

I  have  been  requested  to  give  a  detailed  account  of  the 
second  settlement.  Of  the  circumstances  which  led  to  it  I 
can  give  no  account.  It  should  be  stated  that  while  an 
under-graduate  theological  student  I  came  to  the  conclusion 
that  if  the  Head  of  the  church  had  called  me  to  the  Chris¬ 
tian  ministry  he  would  as  surely  point  out  his  choice  of  a 
field,  and  that  it  was  not  for  me  to  seek  or  knowingly  per¬ 
mit  friends  to  seek  any  particular  pulpit  for  me.  When  the 
invitation  from  Roxbury  came  I  was  entirely  ignorant  in 
regard  to  the  place,  its  condition  and  its  people.  All  that  I 
had  ever  learned  about  the  town  was  that  there  were  forti¬ 
fications  here  in  the  war-time  of  the  Revolution.  I  had 
never  made  the  acquaintance  of  any  one  living  within  a  hun¬ 
dred  miles  of  Roxbury,  and  it  was  years  before  even  a 
conjectured  clue  to  the  circumstances  of  my  being  invited 
came  to  light.  In  response  to  a  request  through  Rev.  David 


38  ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 

Greene,  Home  Secretary  of  the  American  Board  of  Mis¬ 
sions,  and  Chairman  of  the  committee  of  supply,  that  I 
should  preach  here  three  successive  Sabbaths,  I  came  to 
Boston  in  the  early  Summer  of  1842.  Mr.  Greene  met  me 
at  the  Railroad  Station  in  Boston  and  took  me  to  his  house 
on  Cedar  Street  in  Roxbury.  Mrs.  Evarts,  the  widow  of 
Jeremiah  Evarts,  and  mother  of  Mrs.  Greene  as  well  as  of 
her  distinguished  brother,  William  M.  Evarts,  was  then  in 
the  family.  Her  matronly  presence,  her  striking  features, 
her  keen  black  eye,  her  fine  conversational  power  remain  in 
memory  with  great  distinctness.  So  do  all  the  members, 
parents  and  children,  of  that  well  ordered  and  delightful 
household.  Having  only  a  few  sermons  on  hand  I  wrote 
one  each  week  of  the  fortnight  spent  in  Roxbury,  preaching 
them  while  here,  and  then  returned  to  Northampton,  where 
I  was  staying  at  that  time.  Two  of  the  Sabbaths  then 
spent  here  were  the  first  two  of  June;  and  as  soon  as  prac¬ 
ticable  the  Church  and  Society  joined  in  unanimously  in¬ 
viting  me  to  become  their  pastor.  Messrs.  Henry  Hill, 
Alvah  Kittredge  and  Hon.  Samuel  H.  Walley,  Jr.,  were 
deputed  to  convey  the  invitation  and  to  confer  personally 
with  me  at  Northampton.  A  few  days  later  my  written 
acceptance  of  the  call  was  sent  to  Roxbury.  In  the  mean¬ 
time,  a  similar  invitation  from  a  church  in  the  Connecticut 
River  valley  was  handed  me,  and  there  were  strong  local 
inducements  to  accept  the  same.  One  reason  for  declining 
it  was  the  simple  fact  of  priority  on  the  part  of  the  other  in¬ 
vitation.  What  the  relative  amount  of  salary  was  I  do 


SECOND  SETTLEMENT. 


39 


not  remember.  At  a  yet  earlier  date  a  request  had  come  from 
the  church  in  my  native  place.  That  was  contrary  to  my 
avowed  wishes,  which  had  been  made  known  with  frankness 
and  decision.  The  circumstances  that  this  invitation  pro¬ 
ceeded  from  revered  associates  of  my  parents  as  well  as 
from  my  own  early  schoolmates,  was  a  sufficient  reason  for 
declining  the  post  of  spiritual  instructor  and  guide  amidst 
such  acquaintances  of  early  life. 

Arrangements  regarding  the  council  and  ordination 
services  at  Roxbury  were  left  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the 
committee.  My  being  such  a  stranger  in  that  part  of  Mas¬ 
sachusetts  was  reason  enough  for  this.  The  practice  of 
stated  pastoral  vacations  had  not  then  come  to  be  so  com¬ 
mon  as  it  now  is.  After  my  acceptance  of  the  call,  the 
ecclesiastical  society  voted  an  annual  vacation  of  four  weeks, 
which  was  sufficient,  and  the  more  gratifying  because  it  was 
done  spontaneously. 

At  that  time  the  annual  exodus  of  Summer  visitors  to 
the  mountains  and  other  rural  resorts,  as  well  as  to  the  sea¬ 
side,  had  hardly  begun,  otherwise  the  formal  induction  to 
office  would  not  have  occurred  in  dog-days.  It  was  assigned 
to  the  27th  of  July. 

Examination  by  the  council  was  somewhat  prolonged, 
and  as  it  seemed  to  me  very  thorough.  I  could  wish  that 
acquaintance  with  a  candidate’s  religious  views  might  never 
be  sought  with  less  scrutiny.  It  was  not  then  the  custom, 
as  is  now  the  case,  to  call  for  a  written  statement  of  one’s 
theological  position.  The  examination  occupied  the  greater 


40 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


part  of  the  afternoon,  public  services  coming  in  the  evening. 
Dr.  John  Codman  of  Dorchester  presided.  The  invocation 
was  by  Rev.  Mr.  Marsh,  pastor  of  the  Spring  Street  Church, 
West  Roxbury,  which  was  organized  the  same  year  as  the 
Eliot  Church.'  My  brother,  Professor  William  Thompson, 
preached  the  sermon.  Of  the  other  services  two  are  dis¬ 
tinctly  recalled  by  me,  one  of  them  the  right  hand  of  fellow¬ 
ship  given  by  Dr.  N.  Adams  in  his  peculiarly  happy  manner, 
easy,  fraternal,  cordial,  with  no  tinge  of  the  merely  pro¬ 
fessional  or  perfunctory.  It  drew  my  heart  to  him  and  my 
warm  expectant  regard  for  those  whom  he  represented. 
Among  his  appropriate  sayings  I  remember  a  reference  to 
the  Rev.  Daniel  Crosby  of  Charlestown,  then  just  deceased, 
a  man  greatly  respected  and  beloved :  — 

“  Others  may  hail  the  rising  sun, 

I  bow  to  him  whose  course  is  run.” 


The  other  service  which  deeply  impressed  me  was  the 
ordaining  prayer  by  Dr.  Burgess  of  Dedham,  in  the  course 
of  which  he  employed  successive  clauses,  beginning,  “  We 
set  him  apart,”  and  “from  the  halls  of  legislation”  was  appro¬ 
priately  one  of  them.  The  pressure  on  my  head  of  his  hand 
and  the  hands  of  other  revered  divines  as  I  kneeled  by  them 

1  PASTORS. 

Christopher  Marsh.  May  17,  1837.  December  11,  1850. 

Thomas  Laurie,  d.d.  May  7,  1851.  January  30,  1868. 

William  S.  Hubbell.  January  30,  1868.  January  25,  1872. 

Edward  Strong,  d.d.  May  2,  1872.  July  13,  1882. 

Clarence  A.  Beckwith.  November  21,  1882.  March  15,  1892. 

Frank  W.  Merrick.  May  11,  1893. 


SECOND  SETTLEMENT. 


41 


in  the  pulpit  and  listened  to  the  solemn  words  of  consecrat¬ 
ing  prayer,  can  never  be  forgotten.  Indeed  for  many  weeks, 
and  especially  amidst  ministerial  duties,  there  seemed  to  be 
a  distinct  sensation  that  the  hair  had  not  risen  from  be¬ 
neath  those  venerable  hands.  Dr.  Burgess  felt  a  peculiar 
interest  in  the  formation  of  this  church ;  had  contributed 
pecuniarily  to  its  growth ;  but  had  no  thought  that  the 
“  hands  of  the  Presbytery  ”  were  being  laid  on  the  head  of 
one  who,  some  thirty  years  later,  would  become  his  son-in- 
law.  It  is  a  coincidence  not  unworthy  of  mention  that  by 
the  courtesy  of  the  Eliot  Society  my  family  have  unwit¬ 
tingly  occupied  the  pew  which  was  originally  owned  by  him. 
At  the  close  of  the  service  Dr.  Codman  shook  hands  with 
me  most  cordially  and  said,  “  Make  use  of  my  library.” 
He  had  an  unusually  large  and  valuable  collection  of  books. 
I  never  availed  of  his  offer,  nor  ever  forgot  the  kindness  of 
that  hour,  a  kindness  that  continued  without  interruption 
till  the  last  hour  of  his  life. 

Between  the  organization  of  the  Eliot  Church  and  the 
second  installation  of  a  pastor,  1842,  there  had  been  no  very 
marked  general  developments  in  the  religious  condition  of 
Boston  and  its  vicinage.  Individual  occurrences,  however, 
of  considerable  significance  took  place.  Emerson’s  noted 
sermon  before  the  Cambridge  Divinity  School  was  delivered 
in  1838.  The  next  year  came  Professor  Andrews  Norton’s 
address  on  “  The  Latest  Form  of  Infidelity.”  Theodore 
Parker,  who  was  settled  at  West  Roxbury  in  1837,  preached 
his  famous  South  Boston  discourse  in  1841,  the  subject 


42 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


being  the  transient  and  permanent  in  Christianity.  That 
may  be  accepted  as  inaugurating  the  era  of  a  form  of  bald 


infidelity  in  these  parts.  But  its  progress  was  slow.  It 
scarcely  touched  the  Eliot  congregation.  The  good  people 
of  our  congregation  did  not  desire  combativeness  in  the  pul¬ 
pit,  and  as  little  did  they  desire  avoidance  of  the  great  dis¬ 
tinctive  facts  and  truths  of  evangelical  Christianity.  Opiate 
divinity  had  no  charm  for  them.  It  was  far  from  my 


thought  to  play  the  role  of  belligerency ;  I  do  not  recollect 
ever  to  have  referred  publicly  and  by  name  to  Unitarians  or 
Universalists  ;  but  it  was  soon  perfectly  understood  what 
position  the  young  pastor  held.  Fill  the  bushel  with  wheat, 
and  chaff  will  have  small  chance. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


THE  PULPIT. 

A  Pedestal,  a  throne,  on  which  concentrated  light  is 
cast  —  such  is  the  pulpit.  To  stand  there  the  object  of  all 
eyes,  open  at  all  points  to  criticism,  challenging  respect  and 
confidence,  though  fully  conscious  of  insufficiency  —  what 
an  occasion  for  trembling  !  What  a  morning  for  one  young 
man  was  that  of  July  31,  1842,  the  first  Lord’s  Day  in  a 
momentous  relation  that  was  to  continue  indefinitely.  The 
shrinking  and  tremor  would  have  been  overpowering  but  for 
the  Saviour’s  last  promise,  “  Lo,  I  am  with  you.”  This  pre¬ 
sented  itself  as  the  minister’s  own  promise.  It  gave  strength 
and  calmness ;  and  from  that  day  to  the  present  I  have  sel¬ 
dom  gone  to  the  sacred  desk  without  pleading  this  precious 
pledge. 

The  morning’s  sermon  that  day  was  on  “  The  Christian 
Embassy,”  from  the  words,  “  Now  then  we  are  ambassadors 
for  Christ,  as  though  God  did  beseech  you  by  us ;  we  pray 
you  in  Christ’s  stead,  be  ye  reconciled  to  God.”  In  the 
afternoon  the  subject  was,  “  A  People’s  chief  duty  to  their 
.  Pastor  ”  (Hebrews  2 :  2,  3).  But  there  sat  Rev.  Dr.  Ander¬ 
son,  Rev.  David  Greene,  besides  other  clergymen  and  well- 
educated  laymen,  men  of  large  experience  in  public  affairs. 
There  were  women,  too,  of  a  superior  type,  mothers  in  Israel 
and  daughters  of  Judah,  mature  and  refined.  The  audacity 


44 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


of  a  young  man  rising  up  as  teacher  and  guide  in  such  a 
presence  seemed  prodigious.  Lack  of  adequate  mental 
capacity  and  furniture  was  not  the  chief  source  of  anxiety. 
The  religious  welfare  of  a  congregation  weighed  like  a 
mountain.  What  Augustine  says  about  angels  being  un¬ 
equal  to  the  burden1  came  to  mind.  But  for  a  strong  hand 
from  on  high,  collapse  would  have  come.  The  people,  how¬ 
ever,  were  kindly  considerate.  Attention  was  all  that  could 
be  desired. 

In  the  earlier  years  of  my  ministry  there  was  one  in  the 
congregation,  Dr.  Nathaniel  S.  Prentiss,  whose  specially 
eager  attention  could  not  fail  to  attract  notice.  He  sat  at 
an  angle  from  the  pulpit  that  made  it  particularly  easy  and 
natural  for  the  speaker’s  eye  to  rest  on  his  noble  counte¬ 
nance.  His  love  of  scripture  truth  was  intense.  If  now 
and  then  there  was  some  one  apparently  in  the  same  condi¬ 
tion  with  Malchus  after  Peter  had  used  his  sword,  Dr.  Pren¬ 
tiss  more  than  made  amends  for  such.  His  portly  person, 
his  large  eyes,  his  riveted  attention  seemed  enough  for  a 
half  side  of  the  meeting-house.  One  of  the  deacons,  a  very 
grave  man,  who  sat  in  the  pew  behind  the  doctor,  said  that 
as  a  sermon  proceeded,  the  old  gentleman,  with  both  hands 
on  the  top  of  his  gold-headed  cane,  would  unconsciously 
work  forward  on  his  seat ;  and  the  observer  was  often 
anxious  lest  he  should  land  on  the  floor.  He  weighed  con¬ 
siderably  over  two  hundred  pounds. 

As  for  criticisms,  there  must  have  been  many  and 


1  Onus  Angelicis  humeris  formidandum. 


THE  PULPIT. 


45 


deserved,  though  it  was  seldom  that  one  came  to  my  ear. 
I  can  recall  but  a  few  instances.  It  was  my  practice  to  re¬ 
write  whenever  I  preached  a  sermon  the  second  time,  except 
when  there  came  a  request  for  repetition.  In  one  instance, 
having  no  time  to  recast  a  manuscript,  I  delivered  a  dis¬ 
course  word  for  word  after  an  interval  of  seven  years.  As 
the  congregation  were  retiring,  an  individual  who  had  joined 
us  in  the  interim  remarked  with  a  deep  flush  on  his  face, 
“  That  sermon  was  all  aimed  at  me.”  Another  case  was 
this :  In  due  course  of  exposition  it  became  necessary  for 
me  to  say  something  in  regard  to  divorce,  though  not  know¬ 
ing  that  a  divorced  person  was  present.  It  appears  that  one 
of  the  quartet  singers  belonged  to  that  class,  and  was  moved 
to  talk  violently  about  the  sermon.  But  for  that,  it  might 
not  have  become  known  that  there  was  anything  disreputa¬ 
ble  in  her  history.  Sometimes  just  the  opposite  of  fitting 
personal  application  took  place.  “  Where  did  you  get  that 
sermon  last  Sunday,  Mr.  Thompson  ?  ”  was  put  to  me  ear¬ 
nestly.  “  Well,  the  text  was  in  Numbers.”  “  Ah,  you  hit 
the  nail  on  the  head ;  ”  and  more  to  the  same  effect.  If  any 
head  was  hit,  his,  by  general  consent,  was  the  one.  But  he 
proceeded  to  speak  of  Mr.  Blank  as  engaged  in  bogus  stock 
operations,  etc.  One  female  hearer,  not  afflicted  with  self¬ 
distrust,  would  now  and  then  give  advice  touching  sermons, 
and  once  complimented  herself  by  saying  that  she  noticed  I 
always  preached  better  after  her  conversations  with  me. 

The  appropriateness  of  certain  subjects  and  sermons  is 
not  usually  seen  by  all.  After  discourse  one  Sunday  fore- 


46 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


noon  on  the  Pharisee  and  Publican,  a  good  clerical  friend  in 
the  congregation  kindly  suggested  the  inquiry  whether  cer¬ 
tain  paragraphs  relating  to  the  prayers  of  the  impenitent 
were  quite  in  place  at  that  time.  Before  night  a  theologi¬ 
cal  student,  a  member  of  our  church,  called,  after  conversing 
with  another  young  man,  who  was  well  informed  on  general 
subjects  but  a  Pharisee  in  his  religious  views  and  ways.  He 
had  said  to  the  student,  “  Why  did  you  tell  Mr.  Thompson 
my  confession  to  you  yesterday?  ”  His  friend  replied,  “  I 
did  not  see  Mr.  Thompson  till  after  the  sermon  this  morn¬ 
ing.”  The  young  man,  who  had  been  a  gay  New  Yorker, 
remarked,  “  It  was  the  closest  and  most  pertinent  sermon  I 
ever  heard.” 

After  a  discourse  on  the  “  Efficacy  of  Prayer,”  one  good 
woman  sent  me  word  indirectly  that  she  did  not  need  such 
an  argument.  Before  the  next  Lord’s  Day  another  excellent 
Christian  women  thanked  me  very  heartily  for  that  sermon, 
saying  it  was  just  what  she  needed.  A  wise  and  kind 
elderly  member  of  the  congregation  expressed  doubts  as  to 
the  expediency  of  introducing  into  the  pulpit  a  certain  sub¬ 
ject  which  had  just  been  handled  on  the  Sabbath.  Within 
a  few  days  I  heard  of  a  hopeful  conversion  resulting  from 
that  sermon. 

In  the  matter  of  pulpit  preparation  and  pulpit  occu¬ 
pancy  most  pastors  have  an  experience  of  trying  exigencies, 
and  more  particularly  in  their  early  official  years.  A  share 
fell  to  my  lot.  In  several  instances,  owing  to  illness  or  a 
succession  of  funerals  and  other  interruptions,  it  became  im- 


THE  PULPIT. 


47 


possible  to  commence  usual  preparation  before  Saturday, 
and  that,  too,  when  body  and  mind  were  jaded.  Hours 
were  spent  in  trying  to  secure  an  exchange  with  different 
neighboring  ministers,  but  unsuccessfully.  Returning  home, 
a  wearied  and  possibly  somewhat  wiser  man,  I  would  spend 
most  of  the  night  in  necessary  writing  instead  of  needed 
sleep.  Twice  within  my  first  three  years  an  agent  of  some 
benevolent  society  had  agreed  to  meet  me  of  a  Sunday  after¬ 
noon  at  the  church  door  and  occupy  the  pulpit  in  present¬ 
ing  his  cause,  but  failed  to  appear.  Each  time  the  disap¬ 
pointment  was  partly  relieved  by  my  being  able  to  summon 
up  a  discourse  previously  committed  to  memory.  When 
such  trials  work  faith,  there  is  compensation  to  the  preacher 
if  not  to  the  hearer. 

Can  the  pulpit  be  long  out  of  a  minister’s  mind  any  day 
of  the  year,  and  year  after  year,  be  the  pastorate  a  long  or 
a  short  one  ?  What  subject  most  needed  next  ?  how  shall 
it  be  so  treated  as  to  be  most  effective  ?  are  questions  con¬ 
stantly  recurring  from  January  first  to  December  thirty- 
first. 

Of  about  one  thousand  sermons  a  classified  synopsis  of 
subjects  shows  the  following  proportions :  — 

The  Bible  —  characteristics  and  claims,  24 ;  the  several  books,  7 ;  exposi¬ 
tion  of  whole  books  or  chapters,  231  ;  Scripture  characters,  28. 

God  —  character,  works,  and  government,  36. 

Christ — attributes,  offices,  life,  118. 

The  Holy  Spirit  —  attributes  and  offices,  26. 

Man  —  character,  ways,  needs,  duties,  destiny,  102. 

The  Christian  —  characteristics,  duties,  privileges,  destiny,  285. 


48 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


Revivals ,  28. 

The  Family — Periods  of  Life,  Classes  of  Persons,  73. 

Death  and  the  Future ,  69. 

Special  Occasions  and  Miscellaneous ,  1 1 1 . 

Memoranda  show  that  in  twenty-three  instances  I 
preached  at  the  ordination  or  installation  of  foreign  mission¬ 
aries  or  home  pastors.  As  some  written  sermons  were  at 
different  times  destroyed,  and  as  some  were  never  com¬ 
mitted  to  paper,  it  is  impossible  to  find  the  exact  number 
that  were  delivered  from  the  Eliot  pulpit.  Memoranda  show 
that  for  somewhat  over  a  thousand  discourses,  359  texts  were 
taken  from  the  Old  Testament,  and  703  from  the  New  Tes¬ 
tament.  In  no  instance  was  a  passage  employed  simply  as  a 
motto  ;  nor  garbled  by  employing  an  incomplete  sentence  or 
some  single  phrase.  Occasionally  I  tried  the  expository 
method,  dwelling  on  half  a  chapter  at  a  time,  not,  however, 
without  careful  preparation,  and  it  was  gratifying  to  hear  of 
much  satisfaction  being  expressed  by  members  of  the  con¬ 
gregation.  Never  was  a  mere  verbal  or  fanciful  analogy 
made  the  basis  of  a  discourse.  Imitation  of  the  method  or 
style  of  other  men  was  never  attempted.  Simeon’s  volumes 
of  plans  I  never  saw.  But  I  once  read  in  public  another 
man’s  discourse.  It  was  from  a  volume  of  sermons  on 
“  Christ  the  Great  Subject  of  Gospel  Preaching,”  etc.,  by 
Ebenezer  Thayer,  pastor  of  the  Second  Church,  the  one  in 
West  Roxbury  over  which  Theodore  Parker  was  after¬ 
ward  settled.  The  discourse  was  one  of  twelve,  clear, 
scriptural  and  forcible,  on  the  person  and  work  of  Christ. 
This  was  done  at  an  evening  meeting  in  the  lecture-room, 


THE  PULPIT. 


49 


the  audience  large  and  attentive,  and  a  desire  was  expressed 
that  yet  other  sermons  might  be  given  from  the  same  vener¬ 
able  book,  which  was  published  more  than  a  century  before 
(1721).  I  never  took  notes  of  any  preacher’s  sermons  and 
never  borrowed  a  skeleton.  In  every  instance,  whether  a 
sermon  might  be  called  doctrinal  or  not,  there  was  a  dis¬ 
tinct  purpose  to  make  a  definite  impression  and  to  secure  a 
well-defined  practical  result  —  helpful  instruction,  vigorous 
aspiration,  saving  conversion,  or  earnest,  holy  living. 
When  after  fifty  years  occasion  ceased  for  their  further 
use,  it  was  a  rather  trying  task  to  destroy  a  thousand  or 
more  manuscripts,  the  chief  products  of  much  brain-work 
—  products  which  had  been  employed  for  the  most  sacred 
purposes.  They  were  luminous  at  least  once.  John 
Bright,  the  celebrated  English  statesman  and  orator, 
expressed  surprise  that  any  one  could  preach  week  after 
week  to  the  same  congregation.  But  even  the  Turk  has 
a  proverb  that  solves  the  mystery,  “  When  God  gives 
office  he  also  gives  ability  to  fill  it.” 


CHAPTER  VII. 


PASTORAL  SERVICE. 

i.  Parish  Calls. 

No  part  of  ministerial  labor  has  been  more  a  delight 
than  these.  At  the  time  of  my  settlement  there  was  no 
Congregational  Church  within  two  miles  of  the  Eliot 
Church.  Parochial  limits  were  thus  for  a  good  while  wide 
apart ;  and  quite  a  number  of  those  worshiping  with  us  lived 
a  long  way  from  the  place  of  Sunday  meeting  as  well  as  a 
yet  greater  distance  from  one  another.  Being  chiefly  a 
transplanted  people,  their  social  ties  were  feeble.  One  inci¬ 
dental  result  was  the  absence  of  gossip.  I  have  never 
known  a  community  where  there  was  so  little  mischievous 
or  idle  small  talk.  Had  they  lived  more  compactly  and  met 
more  frequently,  it  might  have  been  different.  The  pastor 
naturally  became  a  bond  or  medium  of  fellowship.  During 
the  whole  period,  excepting  long  absences,  calls  averaged 
seven  hundred  and  ninety  per  annum,  but  the  thought  of 
being  foot-sore  hardly  found  place  in  the  young  man’s  mind, 
so  hearty  was  the  welcome  he  received.  Smiles  would 
brighten  the  cloudiest  day. 

In  the  course  of  thirty  years  only  a  few  exceptions  to 
this  took  place  among  our  own  people.  It  occurred  to  me 
at  the  outset  that,  for  the  manner  of  conducting  official 
visits  it  would  be  well  to  begin  as  they  might  be  expected 


PARISH  CALLS. 


51 


to  continue,  prayer  among  other  things  being  proposed. 
One  of  my  first  calls  was  at  the  house  of  a  sick  church 
member  too  ill  at  the  time  to  see  me,  and  whose  husband 
was  an  irreligious  man.  I  endeavored  to  open  acquaint¬ 
ance  pleasantly  with  him,  and  before  leaving  said,  “  Shall 
we  unite  in  prayer  for  the  invalid?”  “No  objection  if  you 
want  to,”  was  the  gruff  response. 

I  found  few  persons  less  easily  approached  in  serious 
conversation  than  the  devotees  of  society  so  called.  One 
such  having  just  returned  from  a  trip  to  Philadelphia  I 
called  on  her,  and  after  a  while  endeavored  to  turn  con¬ 
versation  into  a  profitable  channel,  but  without  success. 
“  Well,  Mrs.  Blank,”  I  remarked,  “  there  must  be  one  city 
more  attractive  than  even  Philadelphia.  Is  it  not  New 
Jerusalem?”  “  O,  I  presume  so!”  This  specimen  will 
suffice.  At  an  early  period  there  came  to  town  one  of 
the  shoddy  rich  men,  who  took  a  high-priced  pew  in  the 
Eliot  Church.  Calling  promptly  at  his  house  I  was  re¬ 
ceived  with  a  rather  overpowering  dignity,  the  well-to-do- 
parishioner  presenting  himself  in  a  showy  dressing  gown. 

He  soon  informed  me  that  Mr.  -  of  a  neighboring 

town  was  his  pastor,  and  I  was  able  to  speak  in  the  high¬ 
est  terms  of  that  brother  minister.  The  new-comer  occu¬ 
pied  this  part  of  our  hemisphere  only  a  short  time.  Majesty 
seldom  tarries  long  in  the  same  place.  He  was  the  man, 
if  I  mistake  not,  who  called  a  leading  physician  of  Boston 
and  wished  him  —  as  the  doctor  afterwards  told  me  —  “to 
dognose  [diagnose]  his  case.”  After  a  few  years  I  was 


52 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


greeted  at  another  house  —  a  house  of  repute  —  “You  are 
a  great  stranger;  you  haven’t  been  here  for  two  years.” 
Twelve  months  had  not  gone  by  since  my  previous  visit. 
To  make  assurance  doubly  sure  thereafter  I  had  a  quarto 
volume  prepared  for  a  record  of  calls,  one  broad  column 
on  each  page  for  the  names  of  persons  visited ;  a  narrower 
column  for  dates ;  another  to  indicate  merely  social  calls ; 
and  yet  another  to  indicate  whenHhe  individual  was  not 
at  home.  Such  a  register  serves  as  a  corrective  to  the 
treacherous  memory  of  both  minister  and  people.  It 

served  a  good  purpose  when  Mrs.  -  remarked  that  I 

had  not  been  to  her  house  for  a  year  and  a  half,  during 
which  time  two  of  her  daughters  had  been  sick.  Turning 
to  my  register  I  found  mention  of  three  visits  to  the  family 
within  the  preceding  six  months.  Little  mistakes  some¬ 
times  occurred.  Calling  at  one  of  two  houses  precisely 
alike  in  their  exterior  and  near  each  other,  I  inquired,  “  Is 

Miss  -  at  home  ?  ”  The  servant  said,  “  Yes,”  and 

showed  me  in.  It  was  evening.  Hall  and  parlor  were  not 
well  lighted.  I  had  hardly  been  ushered  in  when  a  good 
lady  advanced,  saying,  “  How  do  you  do,  my  dear  pastor  ?  ” 
I  took  her  to  be  a  sister  of  Mrs.  Van  Kuren  just  come 
to  town,  and  after  chatting  with  her  a  few  minutes  I  re¬ 
marked,  “  Mrs.  Van  Kuren  is  not  able  to  get  out  much.” 
“  O,  Sir,”  said  the  lady,  “  Mrs.  Van  Kuren  lives  at  the  next 
door.  I  thought  you  were  my  pastor,  whom  I  expect  to 
take  tea  with  me.” 

No  year  passed  without  an  effort  to  have  more  than 


PARISH  CALLS. 


53 


one  personal  interview  with  every  member  of  the  congre¬ 
gation,  whether  old  or  young.  The  most  frequent  visits 
were  not  paid  to  the  more  conspicuous  but  to  humbler 
families.  The  former  were,  as  a  general  thing,  less  likely 
to  suspect  disproportionate  attention.  Among  the  latter 
was  found  usually  greater  freedom  in  disclosing  domestic 
and  other  trials,  as  well  as  spiritual  needs  and  religious 
joys.  Many  a  church-meeting  talk  and  many  a  sermon 
came  out  of  visits  to  crowded  alleys  and  dingy  rooms. 
Nowhere  else  was  sympathy  so  deeply  moved,  and  no¬ 
where  else  did  choicer  fruits  of  divine  grace  come  to 
light.  Pithy  sayings  were  sometimes  dropped  and  now 
come  to  mind.  A  thoughtful  woman,  around  whose  dwell¬ 
ing  a  plenty  of  weeds  and  rude  children  of  the  neighbor¬ 
hood  might  be  seen,  remarked,  “  Everything  grows  here 
but  goodness.”  Another,  much  devoted  to  active  benevo¬ 
lence,  after  being  shut  in  by  ill-health,  said  to  me,  “  It 
requires  great  grace  to  be  good  for  nothing.” 

Two  compliments  came  to  me  from  such  quarters  the 
same  day.  I  was  told  that  an  Irish  member  of  the  church, 
who  had  died  shortly  before  at  the  age  of  ninety-two, 
prayed  every  day  during  my  absence  in  Europe  that  I 
might  live  to  return  and  attend  her  funeral.  A  Scotch 
member  of  the  church,  aged  ninety-six,  on  hearing  some 
favorable  remark  about  a  sermon  which  I  had  preached, 
observed,  “  Ah,  he  s  the  boy  to  do  that !  ” 

While  there  is  sometimes  a  pride  that  looks  up  as 
well  as  a  pride  that  looks  down,  flowering  plants  never 


54 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


seem  so  attractive  as  in  the  windows  of  a  tumble-down 
cottage.  Never  can  I  forget  the  sweet  expression  on  the 
countenance  of  an  impoverished  widow  as,  looking  out 
upon  the  well-kept  lawn,  and  grove,  and  shrubs,  and  vines 
of  a  neighboring  estate,  she  said,  “  My  Father  made  them 
all.”  Nor  can  I  forget  the  look  of  heavenly  contentment 
on  the  face  of  another  in  her  solitude,  who  would  never 
admit  being  alone,  but  said,  “  My  dear  Elder  Brother  is 
always  with  me.”  There  comes  to  mind  the  radiant  ex¬ 
pression  on  the  face  of  a  woman  thirty  years  ago.  She 
was  ninety,  blind,  feeble,  dependent,  and  at  the  time  sick 
withal.  As  I  spoke  of  the  loving-kindness  of  God,  she 
raised  her  emaciated  hands,  exclaiming,  “  Praised  be  my 
Heavenly  Father  for  all  he  has  done  for  me;  for  all  he  is 
doing  to  me  !  ”  Pastoral  visits  disclosed  now  and  then 
what  seemed  to  be  the  conversion  of  a  church  member, 
not  a  second  conversion,  so  called,  but  the  initial  experi¬ 
ence  of  saving  grace.  One  instance  may  be  mentioned, 
that  of  a  professional  man  in  a  lingering  decline,  who  was 
intensely  desirous  of  recovery,  being  very  timid  in  view  of 
suffering  and  death.  At  length  there  came  an  overwhelm¬ 
ing  sense  of  sinfulness,  and  he  passed  through  a  severe 
spiritual  struggle.  He  obtained  and  retained  a  most  sat¬ 
isfying  view  of  Christ  as  the  atoning  Saviour.  Christian 
patience,  and  meekness  and  joy  in  a  marked  degree  fol¬ 
lowed. 

A  widow  in  her  eighty-third  year  said  to  me  —  she 
was  from  the  north  of  Ireland,  and  had  an  original  way 


PARISH  CALLS. 


55 


of  expressing  herself  —  “Nigh  twenty  years  ago  I  was  in 
a  great  consternation  of  mind  and  body.  I  lay  awake  one 
night  feeling  like  a  sparrow  alone  upon  the  house-top.  I 
prayed  God  he  would  send  some  one  to  teach  and  help 
me.  The  next  day  who  should  come  in  but  you  yourself. 
You  prayed  with  me;  but  you  first  repeated  the  hymn, — 

“  ‘Jesus,  lover  of  my  soul, 

Let  me  to  thy  bosom  fly.’ 


That  was  just  what  I  wanted.  The  peace  of  God  has 
kept  me  ever  since.”  After  that  she  joined  our  church, 
making  no  use  of  a  musty  certificate. 

Among  the  memorabilia  of  sick-rooms  was  the  case  of 
a  church  member,  who  sank  under  a  cancerous  tumor  in 
the  throat,  which  occasioned  great  suffering.  She  could 
speak  only  at  considerable  intervals  and  could  articulate 
only  two  or  three  words  at  a  time.  Between  paroxysms 
of  distress  she  would  say,  “  God  is  good  ”  —  “  He  is  good  ” 
—  “Thanks  for  mercies”  —  “He  strengthens  me”  —  “His 
will  be  done”  —  “Christ  is  precious”  —  “All  is  peace.” 
Silent  endurance  simply  is  impressive ;  but  such  victory 
over  pain,  such  irrepressible  paeans  through  faith  in  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  are  sublime  and  more  effective  than 
any  didactic  volume  of  Evidences.  Upon  decease  there 
is  no  long  flight  of  the  soul  to  follow,  but  simply  a  step 
to  the  other  side  of  the  veil.  And  let  who  will  go  forth 
prospecting  for  precious  metal,  or  searching  the  sky  for 
undiscovered  luminaries,  I  would  far  rather  listen  to  the 


56 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


dying  testimony  and  catch  the  light  in  the  eye  of  a  de¬ 
parting  believer.  And  that,  too,  although  pastoral  pres¬ 
ence  was  now  and  then  sought  when  impossibility  seemed 
to  stare  me  in  the  face.  Owing  to  a  two-days’  sick  head¬ 
ache,  I  was  obliged  to  write  one  Thursday  night  on  a  pre¬ 
paratory  lecture  for  the  next  evening.  Indeed,  it  was  after 
two  o’clock  Friday  morning  when  I  retired  to  rest.  The 
clock  had  not  struck  three  before  I  was  called  up  by  an 
agitated  son,  and  hastened  to  the  bedside  of  his  dying 
mother.  She  was  the  senior  member  of  our  church  at 
that  time,  being  in  the  eighty-sixth  year  of  her  age.  Her 
pains  were  great  but  her  peace  of  mind  still  greater.  At 
another  time  I  was  called  up  past  midnight  to  go  and  see 
a  sick  woman,  who  had  just  learned  suddenly  that  her  ex¬ 
pectation  of  recovery  must  be  given  up,  and  who  was  in 
extreme  agitation.  She  was  living  in  a  court  not  particu¬ 
larly  reputable,  and  I  took  a  policeman  with  me.  Other 
calls  were  made  by  daylight  till  the  wretched  sufferer’s 
last  fearful  groan  was  uttered.  In  1865  died  Mrs.  Sarah 
A.  Rogers,  who  for  years  suffered  from  an  extreme  palpi¬ 
tation  of  heart  which  shook  her  whole  frame  and  the  chair 
in  which  she  obtained  only  imperfect  repose.  After  join¬ 
ing  the  church  she  was  unable  to  attend  public  worship, 
and  never  but  once  received  the  emblems  of  Christ’s 
dying  love.  At  length  she  passed  out  of  the  apartment 
of  suffering  and  of  shadows  into  sunlight.  During  all 
that  period  of  wearisome  months  and  even  years  of  pant¬ 
ing,  no  complaint  escaped  her  empurpled  lips.  Cheerful- 


PARISH  CALLS. 


57 


ness  reigned  throughout  all.  My  calls  were  frequent,  and 
all  the  while  that  palpitating  heart 

“  Like  a  muffled  drum,  was  beating 
Funeral  marches  to  the  grave.” 

Pastoral  life  became  a  vibration  between  joy  and  sor¬ 
row.  So  frequent  was  the  demand  upon  ministration  to 
the  sick  and  bereaved  that  I  was  kept  almost  uniformly 
in  the  border-land,  and  I  seemed  to  have  become  janitor 
to  the  unseen  world.  A  request  would  come  for  me  to 
communicate  sad  intelligence  —  that  there  was  no  hope  of 
recovery ;  or  that  the  remains  of  some  member  of  a  family 
were  unexpectedly  about  to  be  brought  home.  One  morn¬ 
ing  I  was  sent  for  to  inform  a  man  who  had  been  violently 
sick  for  two  weeks,  that  his  wife,  taken  down  after  him, 
died  a  week  ago,  an  event  which  could  not  safely  be  made 
known  sooner.  How  could  tears  be  restrained  on  meet¬ 
ing  a  man,  during  whose  absence  of  a  few  months  his 
entire  family  had  been  buried  ! 

In  almost  numberless  instances  the  last  pastoral  visit 
was  made  just  at  the  close  of  a  parishioner’s  life;  and  good- 
bys  to  the  departing  had,  as  a  general  thing,  little  sad¬ 
ness  in  their  tone.  Recollection  is  stored  with  such  cases. 
In  1869,  for  example,  being  sent  for  with  great  urgency, 
I  hastened  to  the  bedside  of  a  sick  woman.  Passages  like 
the  twenty-third  Psalm  and  certain  words  of  our  Saviour 
were  repeated,  as  well  as  the  hymn,  “Jesus,  lover  of  my 
soul.”  She  expressed  firm  trust  in  him  and  smiled  sweetly 


5« 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


at  every  mention  of  his  name.  After  a  prayer  she  asked 
to  be  turned  in  bed,  and  within  less  than  half  an  hour 
ceased  to  breathe.  Another  sister  in  the  church,  long 
time  a  sufferer,  exhibited  a  rare  combination  of  strong 
desire  to  depart  and  complete  acquiescence  in  the  divine 
will.  A  frequent  exclamation  of  hers  was,  “  I  long  to  go 
home!  O,  I  want  to  be  at  home  with  Jesus!”  At  the 
bedside  of  another  who  had  lived  a  decidedly  Christian  life, 

I  repeated,  “  Rock  of  Ages,  cleft  for  me,”  and  she  accom¬ 
panied  me  in  a  low  concurrent  voice.  When  the  stanzas 
were  finished,  she  whispered,  “  Nothing,  nothing,  but  the 
mercy  and  the  merits  of  Jesus  Christ!”  and  at  once  her 
“  eyelids  closed  in  death.”  A  deaf-mute  member,  in  a 
rather  dark  apartment  and  on  the  verge  of  departure,  in¬ 
dicated  her  idea  of  the  brightness  of  heaven,  to  which  she 
was  bound  joyously,  by  bringing  a  hand  over  her  eyes  as 
if  shading  them  from  the  effulgence. 

Specially  memorable  was  the  loft  of  a  rude  workshop 
—  without  lath  or  plaster,  the  rafters  covered  with  soot, 
not  a  single  object  of  comfort  in  sight  —  where  dwelt  per¬ 
haps  the  most  cheerful  saint  in  Boston.  Never  did  a  lisp 
of  complaint  or  an  allusion  to  surroundings  escape  from 
her  lips.  But  climb  up  there  and  speak  of  the  Saviour, 
you  would  see  her  sallow  face  glow  at  once,  and  she  seemed 
transfigured.  That  dreary,  smoky  apartment  became  a  ves¬ 
tibule  of  heaven. 

There  were  cases  where  the  pastor  found  husband 
and  wife  unequally  yoked  together,  the  former  devoid  of 


PARISH  CALLS. 


59 


sympathy  in  things  religious ;  the  latter  discreet,  faithful, 
prayerful,  and  able  quietly  to  maintain  a  controlling  influ¬ 
ence  over  the  household.  The  Christian  nurture  of  chil¬ 
dren  resulted  in  a  sterling  character.  No  instance  of 
desertion  or  of  divorce  occurred  in  the  congregation.  It 
was  deeply  interesting  to  observe  the  refining  and  enno¬ 
bling  influence  of  genuine  piety,  often  independent  of 
other  sources  of  culture.  Not  a  few  such  cases  come  to 
mind.  I  recall  one  which  will  serve  as  a  specimen  —  the 
sick-room  of  a  Protestant  serving-girl  from  the  north  of 
Ireland.  She  was  dependent  and  friendless,  save  a  sis¬ 
ter,  who  relinquished  her  own  most  eligible  place  of  serv¬ 
ice  that  she  might  minister  to  her  in  a  long  decline.  She 
would  moisten  the  invalid’s  parched  mouth,  caring  for  her 
in  every  way  tenderly  night  and  day.  As  the  last  hour 
approached,  she  said  to  her,  “  Sister,  shall  I  give  you  a  little 
water  now?”  “No,  thank  you,”  was  the  answer,  “I’ll 
drink  no  more  till  I  drink  at  the  fountain.” 

John  Brown,  with  his  well-ordered  family,  came  from 
the  north  of  Scotland  and  occupied  a  small  house,  then 
almost  a  solitary  one,  near  the  Milldam.  He  sank  under 
a  gradual  invasion  of  disease,  which  baffled  the  healing 
art;  but  at  every  call  I  found  a  beautiful  spirit  of  patience 
and  cheerfulness.  His  thoughts  dwelt  a  good  deal  the 
other  side  of  the  ocean  and  also  in  that  world  where  is 
no  more  sea.  Over  and  over  he  sang  hymns  taught  him 
by  a  godly  Highland  mother.  At  last  he  desired  Scotch 
friends  who  stood  round  his  bed  to  sing  a  favorite  one, 


6o 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


which  the  sainted  woman  used  to  sing  in  his  childhood. 
His  own  feeble  voice  at  length  joined  the  rest;  but  with 
the  last  word  and  last  note  he  ceased  to  breathe.  The 
words  were :  — 

“  Hark,  the  glad  sound  !  The  Saviour  comes, 

The  Saviour  promised  long; 

Let  every  heart  prepare  him  room, 

And  every  voice  a  song.” 


I  think  of  him  as  joining  at  once  in  the  song  of 
Moses,  the  servant  of  God,  and  the  song  of  the  Lamb. 
The  funeral  service  over,  the  widow  and  daughter  has¬ 
tened  back  to  Aberdeen. 

2.  Extra-Parochial  Service . 

The  longer  a  minister  remains  in  one  place,  the  more 
is  he  liable  to  be  called  upon  for  service  outside  of  parish 
lines.  If  his  sphere  of  labor  is  in  a  populous  community, 
and  if  he  remain  at  home  during  the  heated  term  when 
an  annual  dispersion  of  people  takes  place,  he  is  sure  to  be 
called  upon  for  ministrations  in  behalf  of  the  sick  and  be¬ 
reaved  who  are  strangers.  I  have  repeatedly  made  a  sug¬ 
gestion  that  groups  of  neighboring  ministers  enter  into  an 
agreement  by  which,  in  rotation,  one  of  them  shall  be  at 
home  during  the  vacation  season.  Many  years  ago  upon 
the  death  of  a  prominent  church  officer  in  Boston,  whose 
house  had  long  been  a  home  for  ministers,  not  a  Congre¬ 
gational  pastor  was  to  be  found  in  the  city,  and  the  family 


EXTRA-PAROCHIAL  SERVICE. 


61 


had  to  scour  neighboring  towns  in  search  of  some  one  to 
offer  prayer  at  the  funeral.  In  two  instances  when  I  had 
been  already  engaged  for  such  service  at  a  specified  hour, 
application  has  been  made  from  other  quarters  for  the 
same  purpose.  In  one  case  the  applicant  seemed  to  be  so 
dazed  as  not  to  appreciate  the  impossibility  of  a  man’s 
reduplicating  himself  and  being  in  two  places  at  the  same 
time.  Great  embarrassment  results  not  infrequently  from 
the  habit  of  engaging  an  undertaker  and  perhaps  announc¬ 
ing  in  daily  papers  the  hour  of  a  funeral  before  a  minister 
is  called  upon. 

Time  and  again  came  a  request  from  some  remote 
family  of  which  I  had  never  heard,  to  attend  a  funeral.  It 
became  necessary  to  hire  a  carriage  for  the  purpose  and 
no  thanks  were  expressed.  This  was  due  doubtless  to 
faulty  education,  for  children  sometimes  grow  up  without 
ever  being  taught  to  say,  Thank  you.  Service  may  be 
cheerfully  rendered,  though  such  omissions  cannot  fail  to 
be  noticed.  I  have  thus  come  into  fuller  sympathy  with 
our  foreign  missionaries,  who  often  fail  to  receive  any  token 
of  gratitude  for  their  gratuitous  labor. 

Just  fifty-one  years  ago  parents,  with  two  daughters 
and  a  son,  sailed  from  Belfast,  Ireland.  The  father  and 
mother  died  at  the  quarantine,  Quebec.  The  son  Andrew, 
a  lad  of  fifteen,  went  to  New  York  to  find  a  brother  who 
had  preceded  the  family  four  years  before.  Finding  that 
the  brother  had  come  to  Boston,  Andrew  followed.  Here 
he  was  soon  run  over  by  a  carriage  and  taken  to  a  hospi- 


62 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


tal.  No  brother  being  found,  he  appealed  to  me.  There 
was  no  small  joy  in  befriending  such  an  orphan.  His 
gratitude  was  ample. 

Utterances  painfully  suggestive  were  sometimes  heard. 
A  widowed  woman  spoke  of  her  husband’s  departure  as  a 
translation,  though  it  was  understood  he  had  come  home 
intoxicated  nearly  every  day  for  years,  ardent  spirits  being 
the  occasion  of  the  accident  by  which  he  lost  his  life. 
The  ravages  and  relics  of  intemperance  in  the  surround¬ 
ing  community  brought  melancholy  scenes  to  light.  The 
older  of  two  sisters  married  a  widowed  father,  and  the 
younger  married  his  widowed  son.  The  next  day  after 
the  funeral  of  a  step-daughter  of  this  second  wife,  the 
step-mother’s  sister  fell  down  stairs  and  remained  uncon¬ 
scious  till  her  death  took  place.  In  obeying  the  summons 
from  strangers  to  a  marriage  service  in  an  alley,  dark 
even  at  noon-day,  and  also  an  urgent  request  for  a  call  at 
midnight,  I  took  a  policeman  with  me  and  found  the  pre¬ 
caution  was  warranted. 

Occasions  for  official  association  with  other  denomi¬ 
nations  were  infrequent.  I  was  requested  to  take  part  at 
the  funeral  of  a  dear  child  who  had  been  in  our  Sunday 
School,  and  who  belonged  to  a  family  some  members  of 
which  were  connected  with  the  Episcopal  Church.  The 
rector  declined  to  have  any  joint  participation,  and  con¬ 
ducted  the  whole  service.  This  occurred  more  than  once. 
With  our  Unitarian  and  Universalist  neighbors  there  were 
pleasant  relations,  but  not  public  religious  fellowship.  In 


EXTRA-PAROCHIAL  SERVICE. 


63 


private  intercourse  there  was  friendliness.  Mr.  Charles  K. 
Dillaway,  for  example,  an  officer  in  the  First  Church,  a 
prominent  citizen,  a  former  master  of  the  Boston  Latin 
School,  was  a  warm  personal  friend.  His  unfailing  kind¬ 
liness  and  rare  general  excellence  of  character  entitled  him 
to  that  universal  esteem  which  he  enjoyed.  Not  infre¬ 
quently  he  would  take  a  seat  with  us  on  the  Sabbath. 
He  suggested  an  exchange  of  pulpits  with  the  pastor  of 
the  Unitarian  Church.  But  that  is  a  matter  in  which  prin¬ 
ciple  must  take  precedence  of  private  and  neighborhood 
courtesies.  In  civic  affairs  and  in  philanthropic  movements 
there  may  be  heartiest  cooperation ;  but  the  strictly  reli¬ 
gious  sphere  is  another  thing.  “  As  certain  also  of  your 
own  poets  have  said”  —  for  example,  Dr.  Priestly  —  “I  do 
not  wonder  that  you  Calvinists  entertain  and  express  a 
strongly  unfavorable  opinion  of  us  Unitarians.  The 
truth  is,  there  neither  can  be  nor  ought  to  be  any 
compromise  between  us.  If  you  are  right,  we  are  not 
Christians  at  all;  and  if  we  are  right,  you  are  gross  idola¬ 
ters.”  The  Rev.  Thomas  Belsham  spoke  decidedly,  “  Opin¬ 
ions  such  as  these  can  no  more  harmonize  with  each  other 
than  light  and  darkness,  than  Christ  and  Belial.  They 
who  hold  doctrines  so  diametrically  opposite  cannot  be 
worshipers  in  the  same  temple.” 

Discourtesies  were  rare.  One  of  our  elderly  ladies 
became  acquainted  with  an  aged  Unitarian  neighbor,  and 
at  length  proposed  that  they  should  engage  in  Scripture 
readings  and  prayer.  They  began  with  the  New  Testa- 


64 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


ment,  and  at  their  third  reading  in  Matthew’s  Gospel  came 
to  the  verse,  “  Whose  fan  is  in  his  hand,  and  he  will  thor¬ 
oughly  purge  his  floor  and  gather  the  wheat  into  his  gar¬ 
ner;  but  he  will  burn  up  the  chaff  with  unquenchable 
fire.”  The  old  lady  seemed  to  be  startled  and  asked  to 
have  it  read  again,  observing  that  she  had  forgotten  that 
there  was  such  a  passage  in  the  Bible.  The  calls  and 
readings  continued  till,  on  her  own  motion,  a  request  came 
that  I  would  visit  her.  On  presenting  myself  and  my 
card  at  the  door,  a  daughter-in-law  of  the  aged  woman  de¬ 
clined  to  admit  me  to  the  house,  remarking,  “  My  mother 
has  a  pastor,”  giving  his  name  with  a  good  deal  of  em¬ 
phasis.  Raising  my  hat,  I  explained  calmly  and  reiterated 
the  explanation  that  I  called  only  at  the  request  of  her 
aged  mother.  Admittance  was  not  secured. 

Some  years  later  I  was  sent  for  in  great  haste  to  go 
to  the  chamber  where  a  wife  and  mother  was  dying.  Her 
Unitarian  pastor  not  being  at  home  could  not  be  found. 
The  family  were  much  agitated.  After  a  few  quieting 
words,  I  invited  all  to  kneel  with  me  in  prayer;  but  on 
rising  I  found  the  pastor  had  come  and  was  standing  be¬ 
hind  me.  There  was  embarrassment  of  course.  After 
interment  had  taken  place,  I  called  to  express  sympathy. 
Some  little  neighborly  services  on  my  part  were  accepted; 
but  by  and  by  the  family  found  it  not  convenient  to  recog¬ 
nize  on  the  street  the  one  who  had  been  sent  for  when 
the  wife  and  mother  and  whole  household  were  in  dis¬ 
tress. 


EXTRA-PAROCHIAL  SERVICE. 


65 


At  another  time  a  gentleman  in  my  neighborhood, 
with  whom  I  had  had  no  acquaintance,  asked  me  to  the 
house  to  see  his  wife,  who  was  in  the  last  stages  of  con¬ 
sumption.  Learning  where  he  attended  worship,  I  sug¬ 
gested  that  while  I  should  be  happy  to  comply  with  his 
request,  it  might  perhaps  be  considered  a  breach  of  comity, 
and  that  he  and  the  family  might  prefer  the  presence  of 
their  own  pastor.  He  replied,  “  I  should  as  soon  think  of 
calling  in  a  dancing-master.”  My  visits  were  gladly  re¬ 
ceived  though  death  soon  ensued. 

The  most  trying  case  was  that  where  a  capable  mother 
who  had  no  sympathy  with  evangelical  religion,  and  who 
would  not  allow  me  at  repeated  calls  to  see  a  sick  daugh¬ 
ter  except  in  her  own  presence.  The  daughter  had  been 
a  member  of  our  Sunday  School;  she  was  sinking  in  a 
fatal  decline,  and  evidently  wanted  to  have  me  talk  on 
the  vital  concerns  of  her  soul  and  of  salvation.  But  the 
mother  sitting  by  would  parry  and  thwart  everything  dis¬ 
tinctive  that  I  said,  and  would  pervert,  according  to  my 
view,  every  plainly  pertinent  text  quoted  by  me.  It  hardly 
need  be  added  that  the  foregoing  were  exceptional  cases. 
From  another  religious  denomination  came  an  imploring 
request  for  me  to  conduct  the  funeral  of  a  child.  The 
pastor  of  the  family  had  declined  the  service  because  scar¬ 
let  fever  occasioned  the  death.  This,  too,  occurred  a 
second  time. 


66 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


j>.  Deaths  and  Ftmerals. 

The  circumstances  under  which  the  announcement 
of  a  death  was  made  were  sometimes  noteworthy.  Toward 
the  close  of  a  week-day  church  meeting  I  suggested  that 
a  prominent  member,  who  was  known  to  be  in  a  distant 
hospital,  should  be  remembered  in  the  next  prayer.  Some 
one  spoke  at  once,  “  She  is  dead.”  A  telegram  to  that 
effect  had  been  received  just  as  the  meeting  opened.  A 
hurried  note  was  one  day  written  by  a  lady,  saying,  “  Mr. 
Dickinson  has  been  taken  suddenly  ill.”  Before  opportu¬ 
nity  occurred  to  send  the  note  this  postscript  was  added, 
“  Mr.  Dickinson  died  at  half-past  eleven.” 

Such  unlooked-for  announcements  not  unfrequently 
made  the  general  heart  of  our  community  stand  still  for  a 
moment.  The  shock  would  be  startling.  Mr.  John  Heath 
—  for  many  years  treasurer  of  the  Eliot  Society — who 
never  had  occasion  to  call  a  physician,  fell  without  a  mo¬ 
ment’s  warning  and  did  not  become  again  conscious. 
March  26,  1897,  word  passed  from  neighbor  to  neighbor, 
“Mr.  Ireson  is  no  more  with  us.”  The  sickness  —  it  was 
hardly  a  sickness  —  continued  only  two  days.  He,  too, 
during  seventy-four  years  had  never  called  a  physician. 
For  forty  years  a  member  of  this  church,  and  thirty-eight 
years  secretary  of  the  Sunday  School,  he  had  been  a 
beloved  brother  in  Christ.  These  two  men  were  noted 
for  the  same  traits  and  habits ;  they  were  remarkably 
punctual,  faithful,  accurate,  cheerful.  They  loved  the  dis- 


DEATHS  AND  FUNERALS. 


67 


tinctive  truths  of  Christianity;  they  were  blameless  in  life 
and  prudent  in  speech.  Both  were  heartily  devoted  to 
the  Eliot  Church.  Their  modesty  was  beautiful,  and  yet 
extreme;  each  of  them  shrank  from  taking  active  part,  by 
prayer  or  remarks,  in  social  religious  meetings.  Fluency 
of  speech  is  not  the  standard  of  piety. 

Mr.  Richard  Bond,  well  known  as  an  architect,  when 
finishing  his  morning  toilet,  sat  down  and  within  five  min¬ 
utes  ceased  to  breathe.  Not  long  after  that  the  senior 

brother  in  our  church  —  he  was  once  a  member  of  Dr. 

Channing’s  church  —  having  been  about,  much  as  usual, 
during  the  day,  seated  himself  at  evening  in  an  easy  chair, 

turned  his  head  on  one  side  and  neither  spoke  nor  moved 

again.  One  morning  in  July,  1894,  the  word,  wholly  un¬ 
looked  for,  came,  “  Capt.  Benjamin  C.  Tinkham  passed 
away  last  night.”  Similar  was  the  message  concerning  Mr. 
Charles  W.  Hill: 

“  Swift  was  his  flight,  and  short  the  road,  — 

He  closed  his  eyes  and  woke  with  God.” 


Mrs.  Me  Nee,  from  Paisley,  Scotland,  who  had  been  in 
this  country  only  two  months,  dropped  dead  instantly  while 
preparing  breakfast.  She  was  but  twenty-eight  and  had 
the  appearance  of  being  perfectly  well. 

The  pathetic  sometimes  mingled  with  our  surprise 
and  moved  us  deeply.  A  church  member,  aged  seventy- 
seven,  after  attending  divine  service  on  the  Lord’s  Day, 
seemed  as  well  as  usual  at  the  breakfast  table  the  next 


68 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


morning.  Shortly  after  he  spoke  of  feeling  ill,  and  lay 
down  upon  a  lounge.  His  wife,  daughter,  and  little  grand¬ 
daughter  were  sitting  by.  This  little  girl  of  four  summers, 
who  had  been  to  church  with  him  the  day  before,  said, 
u  I’ll  play  meeting  now  and  be  minister  for  grandpa.”  She 
made  believe  read  a  hymn  and  then  saying,  “  Now  all  be 
still  and  I’ll  pray,”  she  kneeled  and  repeated  the  Lord’s 
Prayer,  adding,  “  God  bless  father  and  mother,  grand¬ 
father  and  grandmother.”  At  that  moment  the  old  gen¬ 
tleman  drew  a  heavy  breath  which  was  his  last. 

A  lady  who  had  for  many  years  been  a  most  exem¬ 
plary  Dorcas  among  us,  finished  a  bedquilt  one  Saturday 
for  a  poor  family ;  the  next  day  was  in  her  place  at  church, 
but  Monday  morning  the  sun  shone  on  her  benevolent 
face  lying  sweetly  motionless,  pillow  and  coverlet  not  the 
least  ruffled. 

Peculiarly  trying  conditions  sometimes  accompanied 
suddenness.  A  member  of  our  congregation  was  riding 
out  with  her  only  child,  eight  months  old,  in  her  arms. 
The  horse  shied  a  little,  though  without  occasioning  real 
danger.  Gathering  the  infant  more  closely  to  her,  the 
mother  leaned  against  a  lady  friend  who  was  driving,  and 
died  instantly.  The  friend  had  to  drive  half  a  mile  before 
finding  a  house,  to  the  door  of  which  she  could  come 
near  enough  to  call  for  help  without  relinquishing  hold 
upon  the  deceased  mother  and  the  living  child. 

Funerals  not  a  few  of  persons  whom  I  had  never  seen 
in  life  were  attended.  The  very  fact  of  having  had  no 


DEATHS  AND  FUNERALS. 


69- 


acquaintance  with  the  deceased  always  furnished  occasion 
to  speak  freely  to  assembled  relatives  and  neighbors.  Re¬ 
quests  for  these  extra-parochial  services  would  sometimes 
come  in  a  peculiar  form,  as  “  Can  you  perform  the  cere¬ 
mony  ?  ”  “  My  father  can’t  work  for  you  today ;  he  died 

last  night.  The  funeral,  tomorrow  afternoon.”  Meeting  a 
quartette  singer,  I  inquired  if  Mr.  So-and-So  was  still  liv¬ 
ing.  “No,”  was  the  reply,  “I  sang  to  his  corpse  yester¬ 
day.”  The  remains  of  an  aged  widow  were  brought  to  our 
chapel  before  interment.  Her  only  son  from  New  York 
was  present.  After  the  reading  of  Scripture  and  prayer, 
I  stepped  from  the  platform  to  speak  to  him,  but  he  did 
not  raise  his  head  from  the  back  of  a  settee  on  which  it 
was  resting.  I  spoke  his  name  in  a  low  tone,  and  then 
noticed  that  he  was  breathing  heavily.  As  he  did  not 
rouse  I  put  my  hand  upon  his  shoulder,  which  also  pro¬ 
duced  no  effect.  It  then  flashed  upon  my  mind  that  being 
a  man  of  known  bad  habits  he  must  be  in  the  stupor  of 
intoxication. 

It  became  very  noticeable  that  for  a  series  of  years 
there  should  be  a  service  awaiting  me  on  my  return  from 
the  four-weeks’  outing.  Coming  home  after  the  August 
vacation  of  i860  I  found  a  gentleman  waiting  at  the  depot 
to  take  me  to  a  funeral  before  going  to  my  own  house. 
There  were  times  when  frequency  characterized  these 
occasions.  I  recall  a  week  in  1861  which  was  peculiarly 
a  week  of  funerals  —  two  of  them  occurring  on  the  Sab¬ 
bath,  two  more  on  Saturday,  and  one  or  two  on  interven- 


7° 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


ing  days.  Connected  with  nearly  every  one  of  them  were 
circumstances  of  peculiar  trial  to  relatives.  In  the  course 
of  that  same  year  three  funerals  took  place  on  a  Sabbath, 
one  result  of  which  was  an  intense  nervous  headache 
which  required  the  attendance  of  a  physician  for  days 
after.  At  another  time  the  head  being  uncovered  in  an 
open-air  service,  the  sun  shone  out  suddenly,  causing  a 
slight  sunstroke  which  left  unpleasant  consequences  for 
a  considerable  period. 

There  were  some  cases — very  few,  however  —  that 
seemed  to  preclude  an  expression  of  sympathy.  Last  ser¬ 
vices  were  attended  in  a  house  where  were  the  remains  of 
a  man  who  could  hold  no  property  on  account  of  a  Gov¬ 
ernment  claim  on  him.  His  widow  —  already  for  a  year 
deranged,  owing  to  excessive  devotion  to  him  in  his  sick¬ 
ness  —  was  left  destitute.  The  property  held  by  her  in 
her  own  right  had  been  employed  in  aiding  the  children 
of  a  former  wife. 

Usually,  however,  the  tenderest  and  deepest  emotions 
were  moved.  It  is  not  easy,  even  at  this  remote  day,  to 
speak  of  those  hours  in  darkened  apartments,  hours  of 
irrepressible  sobbing  and  sometimes  of  vehement  outcries 
on  the  part  of  mourners.  The  heart  beats  quicker  at 
every  remembrance  of  such  scenes.  Tears  still  start  freely. 
The  first  funeral  that  I  attended  as  a  pastor  was  that  of 
a  mother  who  left  ten  living  children.  A  few  years  later 
came  the  funeral  of  another  who  left  twelve  living  children. 
Now  and  then  there  would  be  an  agonizing  wrench  of  the 


DEATHS  AND  FUNERALS. 


71 


sensibilities,  as  when  a  homeward-bound  East  Indiaman 
was  wrecked  on  Minot’s  Ledge,  and  besides  twenty  of  the 
men  one  of  her  young  officers,  an  only  son,  perished 
almost  within  sight  of  his  father’s  house,  where  he  ex¬ 
pected  to  be  in  a  few  hours  amidst  Thanksgiving-Day 
joys.  So,  too,  when  a  maniac  killed  an  only  child  of  one 
of  our  families  and  then  took  his  own  life.  It  would  not 
have  been  surprising  if  the  pastor’s  brain  had  yielded  to 
apoplexy,  or  if  complete  heart-failure  had  ensued.  The 
organ  last  named  gave  functional  alarms  for  several  years. 
One  of  the  most  eminent  pastors  in  the  Commonwealth 
said  to  me  that  he  found  he  must  not  sympathize  too 
deeply  with  his  people;  it  would  otherwise  cost  him  his 
life.  Well  would  it  have  been  for  me  to  have  given  more 
heed  to  that  suggestion!  Few  of  the  more  than  seven 
hundred  funeral  services  were  devoid  of  noticeably  trying 
accompaniments.  Such  was  the  draft  upon  feeling,  that 
almost  any  occasion  of  this  kind  would  be  followed  by 
greater  exhaustion  than  a  service  with  preaching  on  the 
Sabbath.  Unhappily  the  call  for  such  extra  duties  occurred 
more  frequently  on  the  Lord’s  Day  than  any  other.  The 
resulting  strain  had  much  to  do  with  a  repeated  break¬ 
down  of  my  nervous  system.  Sometimes,  as  already  inti¬ 
mated,  day  after  day,  and  even  week  after  week,  there 
came  a  constant  succession  of  scenes  and  duties  that  try 
a  pastor’s  heart.  One  such  in  the  time  of  our  Civil  War 
will  illustrate  what  is  meant.  Three  deaths  occurred  in 
one  day;  the  next  day  another.  Then  followed  two 


72 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


funerals  in  an  afternoon,  from  one  of  which  a  brother-in- 
law  of  the  deceased  was  called  out  just  as  the  service  be¬ 
gan,  to  go  to  his  father  in  Boston  who  died  before  this 
son  reached  the  house.  Soon  after  the  interment  came  a 
similar  service  in  Boston,  a  young  mother  having  died,  and 
during  the  service  her  infant  son  expired.  Dust  to  dust 
had  hardly  been  committed  when  I  was  called  upon  to 
marry  a  couple,  the  bride  being  low  with  a  heart  complaint, 
and  three  days  later  came  her  funeral.  At  the  same  time 
young  men,  single  and  married,  were  enlisting  in  the 
army,  to  each  of  whom  and  their  friends  some  special 
token  of  pastoral  interest  seemed  to  be  required.  At 
another  period  I  attended  in  close  succession  four  funerals 
in  the  same  house  —  one  mother  burying  an  only  child ; 
another,  one  of  two  children ;  and  a  third,  both  of  her 
sons. 

The  range  of  ages  embraced  all  periods  from  a  few 
hours  to  over  a  century.  The  variety  of  conditions,  occu¬ 
pations  and  nationalities  was  great.  Specially  suggestive 
to  myself  has  it  been  that  I  should  be  called  upon  to 
conduct  or  take  part  in  the  obsequies  of  eleven  brother 
ministers,  their  ages  varying  from  thirty-eight  to  eighty- 
four. 

In  general  the  circumstances  of  departure  were  very 
various.  To  some  it  was  on  the  battle-field  or  in  a  mili¬ 
tary  hospital ;  for  most  it  was  in  the  sick-room  at  home, 
and  yet  scarcely  one  without  some  surprise  being  awak¬ 
ened,  either  on  account  of  the  manner  or  the  time.  At 


DEATHS  AND  FUNERALS. 


73 


the  Almshouse  I  attended  (1849)  the  funeral  of  a  mother 
who  died  of  cholera,  as  her  husband  and  eldest  daughter 
had  died  the  same  week.  Orphaned  children  remained. 
The  extremes  of  surprise  relate  to  unexpected  delay  or 
unexpected  suddenness.  Rev.  William  C.  Woodbridge 
was  on  the  invalid  list  for  many  years,  yet  so  removed 
from  the  public  eye  that  many  supposed  for  quite  a  while 
that  he  had  not  been  among  the  living  when  his  decease 
occurred  in  1845.  Mrs.  Sophia  Wildes,  a  rare  woman, 
after  six  years  of  confinement  to  the  house,  almost  on  the 
eightieth  anniversary  of  her  birth,  heard  with  gladness 
the  summons,  “  Come  up  higher.” 1  On  the  other  hand, 
instantaneous  death  was  appointed  to  Rev.  David  Greene 
and  Mr.  Laban  S.  Beecher,  owing  in  each  case  to  what  is 
called  an  accident.  More  painful  circumstances  seldom 
occur.  It  was  impressed  upon  all  that  the  way  to  prepare 
for  sudden  death  is  never  to  be  unprepared.  Remarks  or 
a  sermon  at  funeral  services  are  much  less  often  expected 
now  than  formerly,  and  much  less  often  in  cities  than  in 
the  country.  Still  frequently  a  request  comes  that  some¬ 
thing  may  be  said,  and  an  expectation  of  that  is  well-nigh 
invariable  in  case  of  a  public  service.  Of  these  remarks 
thirty-four  were  sought  for  publication. 

Of  late  years  it  has  been  painful  at  times  to  witness 
the  performances  of  professional  quartettes.  While  no  one 
questions  the  fitness  of  appropriate  singing  on  such  occa- 

*  A  sister  of  Mrs.  Wildes,  the  widow  of  Rev.  Mr.  Bent,  was  for  forty- 
nine  or  fifty  years  an  invalid,  and  debarred  from  attending  public  worship. 


74 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


sions,  every  person  of  good  taste  must  take  exception  to 
certain  pieces  sung  and  especially  to  the  style  of  music. 
But  a  much  severer  criticism  is  due  to  the  manners  of 
quartettes,  as  may  occasionally  be  seen  in  the  house  of 
mourning.  They  are  sometimes,  to  appearance,  utterly 
oblivious  concerning  the  proprieties  of  the  hour.  Whis¬ 
pering,  conning  of  notes,  nonchalant  gazing  about  go  on 
as  if  they  were  hired  to  exhibit  indecorum.  Such  conduct 
while  the  officiating  clergyman  is  reading  Scripture  or 
offering  remarks,  is  decidedly  discourteous  to  all ;  but 
carried  on  while  he  is  offering  prayer,  it  is  unpardonably 
irreverent. 


4.  Marriages. 

Thanks  forever  for  the  family  —  no  human  device  or 
discovery !  Home  is  a  divine  arrangement,  designed  by 
God  as  an  abode  of  comfort  with  a  sense  of  repose  pecu¬ 
liar  to  itself;  where  the  domestic  altar  is  duly  maintained, 
a  sanctuary,  a  little  paradise  before  the  upper  Paradise  Re¬ 
gained.  So  long  as  the  ark  of  the  covenant  was  under 
his  roof  the  house  of  Obed-Edom  prospered.  There  has 
been  no  small  sacrifice  involved  in  seeing  our  jewels  borne 
off  one  after  another;  but  then,  other  communities  and 
even  other  lands  have  been  enriched  thereby.  And  be¬ 
sides,  we  made  some  reprisals. 

In  this  line  of  service  every  clergyman  who  remains 
many  years  in  the  ministry  has  a  variety  of  experiences, 
and  especially  if  he  lives  in  a  city.  The  silent  joining  of 


MARRIAGES. 


75 


two  deaf-mutes  in  sacred  wedlock,  for  instance,  presents  a 
noteworthy  contrast  to  the  lively  cheer  of  an  ordinary 
wedding.  One  evening  while  I  was  engaged  in  conversa¬ 
tion  with  a  man  morbidly  distressed,  thinking  that  he  had 
sinned  away  his  day  of  grace,  in  came  a  couple  to  be 
married.  I  had  to  ask  him  into  the  parlor  as  a  witness, 
and  the  occasion  seemed  to  do  him  more  good  than  my 
previous  conversation.  In  two  instances  I  left  ecclesias¬ 
tical  councils  to  attend  a  marriage,  and  then  returned  to 
proceedings  which  issued  the  one  in  a  pastoral  settlement, 
the  other  in  an  ecclesiastical  divorce. 

Whenever  wine  was  furnished  on  marriage  occasions 
I  declined  the  courtesy.  In  later  years  that  beverage  has 
ceased  to  be  offered.  I  declined  to  re-marry  persons 
divorced  for  other  reasons  than  what  the  Scripture  sanc¬ 
tions. 

The  matter  of  fees  is  sometimes  one  of  interest,  espe¬ 
cially  if  income  from  that  source  is  devoted  to  charity. 
The  first  bridegroom  —  not  a  Roxbury  gentleman  —  who 
desired  my  official  aid  was  a  man  of  property.  Some  of 
his  friends,  thinking  the  fee  must  be  very  handsome,  tried, 
but  without  success,  to  get  from  me  the  exact  sum.  After 
a  while  the  remark  was  made,  “  Y ou  do  not  want  to  tell 
because  it  was  so  large.”  That  taunt  brought  out  the 
secret  of  a  very  meager  payment.  Among  these  outsiders 
was  a  benedict  who  put  a  half  dollar  on  the  tip  of  his 
fingers  and  a  dollar  bill  near  his  wrist,  giving  me  my 
choice.  More  than  one  had  come  without  a  pocket-book, 


?6 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


and  waiting  a  while  in  apparent  expectation  of  an  enter¬ 
tainment,  marched  out  of  the  house  without  so  much  as  a 
Thank  you.  The  largest  sum  ever  received  for  such  ser¬ 
vices,  two  hundred  dollars,  came  from  a  warm  personal 
friend,  and  under  unusual  circumstances. 

An  infelicity  attended  one  public  marriage  in  our 
church.  When  the  parties  presented  themselves  I  asked 
for  the  certificate  of  marriage.  It  was  excusable  in  the 
bridegroom  that,  having  been  a  foreign  missionary  far  from 
our  country  and  among  the  heathen  for  many  years,  he 
had  failed  to  procure  the  required  document.  There  was 
a  congregation  of  friends  present,  and  I  preferred  to  run 
the  risk  of  a  heavy  fine  rather  than  not  proceed  at  once 
with  an  illegal  ceremony.  The  good  man  hastened  from 
church  to  the  city  clerk’s  office  for  an  ex  post  facto  permit. 
Of  the  more  than  two  hundred  and  fifty  marriages,  attend¬ 
ant  peculiarities  were,  however,  almost  wholly  confined  to 
entire  strangers.  One  couple,  coming  from  out  of  town, 
had  forgotten,  if  they  ever  knew,  about  the  marriage 
license,  and  it  took  the  dilatory  man  nearly  all  day  to 
procure  one.  Another  couple  came  to  the  house  of  a 
relative  here  bringing  their  pastor,  a  grave  Doctor  of 
Divinity.  The  elect  lady  had  declared  with  great  em¬ 
phasis  that  no  one  else  should  ever  marry  her.  Just  as 
he  was  about  to  proceed  they  discovered  that  it  was  con¬ 
trary  to  law,  neither  party  being  resident  here,  and  I  was 
sent  for  in  great  haste.  One  rainy  evening  a  carriage 
drove  to  my  door  at  nine  o’clock.  The  son  of  a  former 


MARRIAGES. 


77 


member  of  our  congregation  presented  himself  with  a 
bride;  but  in  changing  his  coat,  had  left  the  needed  cer¬ 
tificate  at  home.  So,  at  least,  he  said ;  and  it  would  be 
sent  to  me  the  next  day.  A  certificate  came  bearing  date 
of  that  next  day !  Governor  Gaston  kindly  accompanied 
me  to  the  city  clerk’s  office ;  and  relatives  of  the  bride 
came  afterwards  from  a  neighboring  state  to  make  in¬ 
quiries. 

While  the  grotesque,  the  comical,  or  the  fraudulent 
sometimes  pertained  to  such  outsiders,  the  startling  or  the 
sad  was  occasionally  associated  with  our  own  friends.  In 
one  instance  the  air  of  a  drawing-room  being  loaded  with 
the  fragrance  of  flowers,  the  bride  fainted  and  fell  amidst 
the  service.  In  another,  two  sisters  were  married  simul¬ 
taneously,  and  not  long  after  came  the  funeral  of  one  of 
them.  Nor  was  that  a  solitary  case  in  which  the  mar¬ 
riage  wreath  might  almost  have  served  also  for  the  casket. 
In  1868  occurred  the  funeral  of  a  young  woman  whose 
marriage  I  solemnized  six  months  previously.  She  was 
evidently  not  well  at  the  time.  The  happy  couple  started 
for  St.  Paul,  Minnesota,  but  stopped  at  Winona  where 
the  bride  died.  Her  marriage  dress  was  her  funeral  robe. 
Late  in  September  of  another  year  two  were  united  in 
sacred  bonds  till  death  should  part  them,  and  before  the 
end  of  October  the  bride  was  a  widow. 


78 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


5.  Contrasts  and  Comcidences. 

In  all  departments  of  life  there  are  conjunctions  that 
impress  one.  Every  minister  probably  has  occasion  to 
notice  such  in  the  course  of  professional  experience.  In 
my  own  case  these  have  been  so  frequent  and  attended 
by  such  conflicting  emotions  of  joy  and  sadness  as  to 
imprint  themselves  indelibly  amidst  pastoral  reminiscences. 
They  were  largely  connected  with  sickness  and  departure, 
and  occurred  so  often  that  I  seemed  to  be  uniformly 
vibrating  between  smiles  and  tears.  An  instance  here  and 
there,  out  of  many  in  successive  years,  will  make  this 
plain. 

Within  the  first  twelve  months  after  ordination  I  offi¬ 
ciated  at  the  marriage  of  a  beautiful  and  interesting 
young  woman.  There  was  a  throng  of  gaily-attired  and 
joyous  guests.  Of  flowers  there  was  a  profusion  and  the 
entertainment  was  sumptuous.  The  grounds  as  well  as 
the  mansion  were  illuminated,  and  the  music  was  inspirit¬ 
ing.  Hundreds  of  hearts  beat  happily  that  June  evening. 
Less  than  six  months  later  came  a  funeral  at  twilight,  the 
ground  covered  with  snow,  a  handful  of  the  same  friends 
present,  all  dressed  in  black,  perfect  silence  reigning.  In 
the  same  drawing-room  and  on  the  same  spot  where  the 
bride  had  stood  were  now  placed  her  lifeless  remains. 

In  1846  young  Atkinson,  in  exuberant  health  and 
full  of  hilarity,  went  with  the  Sunday  School  of  another 
denomination  on  a  picnic  one  bright  morning  and  was 


CONTRASTS  AND  COINCIDENCES. 


79 


drowned.  His  remains  were  brought  home  at  midnight. 
At  break  of  day  I  was  sent  for  to  offer  prayer  at  the 
darkened  house.  Interment  was  to  take  place  at  a  dis¬ 
tance. 

September  25,  1847,  I  went  to  the  funeral  of  John  A. 
Parker,  aged  21.  On  entering  the  house  I  found  two 
caskets  instead  of  one,  the  grandmother  having  died  the 
day  before.  The  house  recently  so  cheerful  was  now 
utterly  desolate;  all  the  three  occupants  belonging  to  as 
many  generations  were  deposited  in  the  same  tomb  the 
same  month. 

A  man  whom  I  had  never  seen,  and  who  had  him¬ 
self  never  seen  the  inside  of  our  church,  called  to  say 
that  his  brother  was  very  low  with  typhoid  fever,  his  brain 
being  affected.  It  was  stated  that  he  had  given  no  evi¬ 
dence  of  being  a  Christian.  The  brother  begged  me  to 
speak  to  the  delirious  man  in  a  “  consoling  ”  way.  I  has¬ 
tened  to  the  house,  which  had  shortly  before  been  vacated 
by  another  family.  A  sad  close  of  life  came  soon ;  but  I 
found  it  was  in  the  same  room  where  a  little  while  pre¬ 
vious  I  had  witnessed  the  departure  of  a  woman  whose 
end  was  perfect  trust  and  perfect  peace.  In  the  Spring 
of  1856  I  called  on  an  aged  and  very  sick  woman,  sup¬ 
posed  to  be  dying,  and  whose  chief  fear  was  lest  she 
should  recover.  She  had  long  been  an  eminent  Christian 
and  a  sufferer.  There  was  occasion  to  labor  with  her  to 
be  resigned  to  live,  if  that  were  the  will  of  the  Lord. 
From  her  room  I  went  to  a  house  of  sickness  in  Boston, 


So 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


and  saw  a  beautiful  boy  expire,  the  son  of  young  parish¬ 
ioners  whom  I  married  a  few  years  previously,  and  who 
seemed  to  find  it  impossible  to  be  reconciled  to  their  loss. 
Only  a  fortnight  before  that  I  attended  a  large  and  expen¬ 
sive  party  beneath  the  same  roof.  Thence  I  went  to  a 
wedding  the  same  day  as  that  of  the  death. 

It  was  at  a  later  date  that  two  brothers,  men  of 
mature  years,  died  in  the  same  house  sumptuously  fur¬ 
nished,  where  skilled  nursing  and  the  most  skillful  physi¬ 
cians  were  in  attendance.  One  of  the  two  brothers  came 
to  his  end  after  a  brief  sickness,  resulting  from  excess  on 
a  festive  occasion.  There  was  opportunity  for  only  a 
single  visit  to  him.  “  Can  you  not  look  penitently  and 
trustingly  to  our  Heavenly  Father,”  I  said,  “  and  implore 
forgiveness  ?  ”  “  I  fear  not,”  was  his  reply ;  and  the  power 

of  utterance  soon  ceased.  The  surviving  brother  was  long 
confined  to  his  room,  and  at  length  to  his  bed.  Though 
a  consistent  church  member,  he  was  constitutionally  reti¬ 
cent  and  undemonstrative.  Some  would  have  pronounced 
him  frigid.  But  as  disease  progressed  he  softened,  and 
finally  talked  freely  of  his  religious  experience.  One  day 
as  I  sat  close  to  his  pillow,  he  drew  my  face  down  to  his 
and  kissed  me.  It  was  the  first  time  in  my  life  that  any 
man  gave  me  that  token,  and  from  no  other  member  of 
the  congregation  would  it  have  been  more  surprising. 

In  these  circumstances  there  was  nothing  remarkable 
perhaps,  but  a  sudden  change  from  one  deep  emotion  to 
another  produces  an  exhausting  revulsion.  Extreme  and 


CONTRASTS  AND  COINCIDENCES. 


8l 


unanticipated  joy  or  sorrow  sometimes  occasions  death. 
It  is  very  pleasing  to  sing  about  “  The  soul’s  calm  sun¬ 
shine  and  the  heartfelt  joy,”  and  it  is  perfectly  easy  to 
recommend  self-control,  but  less  easy  to  exercise  it,  espe¬ 
cially  when  the  nervous  system  is  highly  sensitive.  For 
many  persons  absence  of  the  startling  is  necessary  to 
presence  of  mind.  The  foregoing  instances  of  contrast 
present  coincidences  also,  as  among  the  latter  there  is 
more  or  less  of  contrast. 

It  is  an  occasion  of  grateful  remembrance  that  the 
congregation  was  uniformly  and  noticeably  attentive. 
This  afforded  not  a  little  encouragement.  From  the  first 
onward,  I  never  saw  but  two  persons  in  the  audience 
sleeping.  One  of  them,  laboring  under  an  infirmity  which 
made  it  almost  impossible  to  resist  drowsiness,  told  me 
that  he  would  sometimes  thrust  a  pin  into  his  own  flesh 
to  keep  himself  awake,  though  unsuccessfully,  but  that 
one  Sunday  he  observed  the  head  of  the  other  sleeper 
thrown  back  over  the  top  of  a  pew,  his  enormous  mouth 
wide  open.  The  shock  was  such  as  to  cure  himself  of 
drowsiness.  One  other  case  was  reported  to  me  by  a 
friend  some  time  after  it  occurred.  A  man  who  occu¬ 
pied  a  pew  near  my  informant  said  to  him  on  their  way 
from  church :  “  Mr.  Thompson  did  n’t  preach  this  after¬ 
noon.”  “  O  yes ;  he  preached  as  usual.”  “  But  he  did  n’t 
take  any  text;  I  wonder  if  he  isn’t  well.”  “I  did  not 
notice  any  appearance  of  illness.”  “  It  seems  singular  that 
they  should  only  sing  a  couple  of  hymns.”  The  fact  was, 


82 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


as  my  wakeful  friend  had  noticed,  the  man  dropped 
soundly  asleep  in  the  course  of  the  first  singing  and 
waked  up  during  the  last. 

Closed  eyes  are  not  always  proof  of  drowsiness,  but  it 
naturally  awakens  suspicion.  Owing  to  the  weakness  of 
that  organ  since  1854,  I  have  uniformly  shut  my  eyes 
while  listening  to  sermons,  and  yet  have  not  consciously 
fallen  asleep  during  divine  service.  Speaking  of  this  to 
Mr.  Charles  Stoddard,  a  native  of  Northampton,  he  told 
me  that  Governor  Strong  was  supposed  to  be  in  the  habit 
of  sleeping  at  meeting.  A  spinster,  something  of  a  busy¬ 
body,  noticing  that  he  covered  his  eyes  during  the  ser¬ 
mon,  called  one  Monday  and  lectured  him  on  the  subject. 
He  asked  quietly,  “  Were  you  at  meeting  yesterday  morn¬ 
ing  ?  ”  “  O  yes.”  “  And  what  was  the  text  ?  ”  “  Really  it 

has  escaped  me.”  “  Perhaps  you  will  give  me  an  outline 
of  the  discourse.”  The  good  woman  confessed  she  could 
not.  The  same  questions  and  answers  passed  regarding 
the  afternoon  sermon  also.  Governor  Strong  then  gave 
her  each  text  and  a  full  analysis  of  the  sermon,  adding 
that  for  many  years  he  had  suffered  from  weak  eyes 
which  obliged  him  to  protect  them  from  the  light. 

Family  surprises  were  sometimes  revealed.  A  young 
man  starting  for  Sunday  School  fell  and  broke  his  knee- 
pan.  He  nearly  perished  with  cold  before  relief  came. 
A  good  lady  ran  and  apprised  his  father  of  the  accident, 
but  was  so  agitated  as  not  to  give  the  name  distinctly. 
The  father  remarked  that  he  was  not  much  of  a  nurse 


CONTRASTS  AND  COINCIDENCES. 


83 


himself  and  regretted  that  his  son,  a  strong  young  man, 
should  have  just  left  the  house.  Putting  on  his  overcoat 
rather  deliberately,  he  went  over  in  a  neighborly  way  and 
found  that  the  sufferer  was  that  very  son. 

Certain  other  incidents  belong  to  the  ample  category 
of  simultaneous  bereavement.  On  the  same  day  in  August, 
1862,  that  the  telegraph  brought  word  of  the  death  of  a 
member  of  my  family,  a  gentleman  and  his  sister  called 
to  announce  the  death  of  their  father,  and  almost  imme¬ 
diately  I  fulfilled  a  preengagement  to  marry  a  couple. 
The  translation  of  a  Christian  may  be  more  joyous  than 
any  wedding  march.  At  Newton  Centre  I  attended  the 
funeral  of  a  former  member  of  our  church.  For  five 
years  she  had  not  been  able  to  go  to  the  house  of  God. 
When  the  doctor  announced  the  near  approach  of  death, 
she  said  to  her  sister,  “  Have  you  heard  the  good  news?” 
“No;  what  is  it?”  “I’m  going  home.”  Just  as  she 
was  sitting  down  at  the  marriage  supper  of  the  Lamb  I 
hastened  back  to  attend  a  marriage  service  in  our  church, 
and  thence  to  one  at  my  house.  Two  brides  that  day 
went  away  from  home.  One  of  two  widowed  sisters, 
whose  husbands  died  at  nearly  the  same  time,  returning 
from  Kansas,  whither  she  had  removed,  called  to  say  that 
her  only  son,  aged  twenty-one,  died  of  injuries  by  an  ac¬ 
cident  and  that  the  only  son  of  her  sister  was  almost  at 
the  same  time  killed  on  the  Fitchburg  Railroad. 

Under  one  roof  in  1859  were  the  two  widowed  sis¬ 
ters  of  Dr.  N.  S.  Prentiss,  one  aged  seventy-two,  the 


84 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


other  eighty-five.  The  older  sister  had  been  deaf  from 
childhood,  and  now  while  lying  beside  Mrs.  Weare, 
whose  tender  care  she  had  enjoyed  for  half  a  century, 
she  fell  quietly  asleep  never  to  wake  again  in  this  world. 
Her  noble-hearted  sister,  being  told  what  had  occurred, 
said,  “  My  work  is  done ;  I  shall  soon  follow,”  and  in  less 
than  twenty-four  hours  she,  too,  fell  asleep  in  Jesus.  The 
funeral  service  and  interment  of  the  two  took  place  at 
the  same  time. 

In  three  instances  I  found  unexpectedly  two  caskets 
instead  of  one.  The  last  was  at  Newton  Centre,  where 
friends  assembled,  thinking  to  look  for  the  last  time  only 
on  the  face  of  Mrs.  Albert  Bowker.  But  side  by  side 
with  her  casket  was  that  of  her  husband.  In  death  they 
were  not  divided,  and  there  was  companionship  in  burial 
as  well.  Neither  of  them,  it  should  be  said,  had  any  con¬ 
nection  with  the  Eliot  Church.  The  coincidence  though 
striking,  has  conspicuous  parallels.  Some  years  since,  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Milledollar  of  New  York  died  at  a  good  old 
age ;  the  next  day  his  wife  also,  and  they  were  buried  in 
the  same  grave.  Crossing  the  Atlantic,  we  find  that  the 
Rev.  George  Burder  and  his  wife  were  interred  the  same 
afternoon.  Yet  earlier,  a  relative  of  Lady  Sutherland 
hastened  to  Bath  to  attend  the  funeral  of  Lord  Suther¬ 
land,  but  found  two  hearses  at  the  door,  one  of  them  for 
her  ladyship. 

I  remember  with  great  distinctness  the  first  call  which 
Mrs.  Bowker  made  on  me  one-third  of  a  century  ago. 


CONTRASTS  AND  COINCIDENCES. 


85 


She  came  to  confer  in  regard  to  a  Woman’s  Board  of 
Foreign  Missions.  It  was  the  presence  of  a  superior 
woman  revolving  a  noble  theme,  a  theme  growing  into 
grandeur.  She  was  becoming  transfigured  by  it.  Not  a 
word  of  conceit  or  of  self-seeking  in  any  form  dropped 
from  her  lips.  She  brought  with  her  a  most  evident  im¬ 
press  from  the  mercy-seat.  It  was  that  elevation  tem¬ 
pered  with  meekness,  which  can  be  had  only  by  the  Holy 
Spirit’s  illuminating  and  energizing  presence.  Mrs.  Bow- 
ker  was  moved  to  organize  the  womanly  sympathies  and 
energies  of  Christian  hearts  in  behalf  of  those  whom 
Satan  hath  bound,  lo,  these  eighteen  hundred  years.  For 
a  quarter  of  a  century  she  labored  indefatigably  in  their 
behalf.  Thousands  of  heathen  women  have  been  ele¬ 
vated,  hundreds  of  heathen  homes  ameliorated.  Bowker 
Hall  of  the  Mission  School  at  Bombay,  and  Bowker  Hall 
of  the  College  for  Girls  at  Scutari,  on  the  Bosphorus,  are 
her  fitting  monuments. 

Another  class  of  coincidences  come  to  mind.  Out 
of  a  considerable  number  a  few  will  serve  to  illustrate. 
One  morning  in  1859  the  German  Methodist  minister  of 
this  city  called,  desiring  aid  for  his  church  which  was  in 
debt.  I  was  then  unable  to  render  assistance.  Toward 
evening  a  minister  from  Litchfield,  Connecticut,  presented 
himself.  In  my  boyhood  he  was  a  teacher  in  my  native 
place.  He  was  now  aged  and  in  poor  health.  I  had  just 
returned  from  making  five  calls,  at  no  one  of  which  was 
the  subject  of  giving  mentioned.  On  retiring  from  the 


86 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


last  house  visited,  the  good  lady  placed  in  my  hand  a 
bank-note  of  no  small  denomination.  It  was  evidently 
designed  by  Providence  to  be  divided  between  the  two 
clerical  callers  of  that  day.  At  a  certain  juncture  it  be¬ 
came  a  question  with  me  whether,  owing  to  an  inevitable 
increase  of  expenses,  I  was  not  called  upon  to  diminish 
my  subscriptions  to  benevolent  objects.  I  could  not  per¬ 
suade  myself  to  retrench  in  that  direction.  Almost  imme¬ 
diately  there  was  disclosed  a  small  mine  which  accrued  to 
my  benefit.  Again,  in  1856,  I  was  very  desirous,  after 
returning  from  a  visit  to  missions  in  India,  of  doubling 
the  amount  previously  given  to  the  American  Board. 
Within  three  weeks  and  before  the  time  for  payment,  a 
good  woman  connected  with  another  church  and  entirely 
unacquainted  with  the  circumstances,  handed  me  the  exact 
amount  for  my  private  use.  The  next  year,  while  there 
was  for  some  days  a  similar  hesitation  as  to  the  duty  of 
giving,  the  same  lady  asked  for  my  written  opinion  regard¬ 
ing  spiritism.  When  that  was  communicated,  she  sent  me 
a  check  for  one  hundred  dollars.  Just  before  the  time  to 
subscribe  to  foreign  missions,  in  1859,  this  generous  friend 
died,  and  on  her  death-bed  had  directed  her  executor  to 
hand  me  two  hundred  dollars,  which  amount  was  most 
opportune. 


6.  Peculiar  Persons  and  Proceedings . 

A  Tamil  proverb  asks,  “Are  all  stones  rubies?”  The 
pastor  may  expect  to  find  some  paste  pearls  in  his  congre- 


PECULIAR  PERSONS. 


87 


gation.  Every  city  pastor  at  least  will  have  experience 
with  cranks  and  impostors.  In  country  villages  and  towns 
there  are  few  dark  courts  or  dark  corners.  In  our  cities 
there  are  resorts  underground  or  shaded  by  high  build¬ 
ings  where  the  sun’s  rays  never,  and  the  police  seldom, 
penetrate.  If  churches  were  gathered  on  a  strictly  elec¬ 
tive  affinity  basis,  diversities  would  soon  be  developed. 
In  the  Eliot  Church  there  was  such  a  predominance  of 
stable,  sensible  men  and  women,  that  occasional  obliqui¬ 
ties  created  no  serious  disturbance.  They  called  forth  no 
remark ;  silent  pity  and  sometimes  a  little  sanctified  amuse¬ 
ment  followed.  In  the  course  of  thirty  years  there  was  a 
succession  of  exceptional  members  —  usually  but  one  or 
two  at  a  time  —  whose  peculiarities  were  no  doubt  needed 
to  help  on  the  perseverance  of  saints. 

One  good  man  abounded  in  devices.  He  would  bring 
forward  this  proposal  and  that  proposal,  yet  scarcely  ever 
showing  good  judgment,  or  securing  concurrence.  The 
only  way  was  to  practice  a  discreet  disregard;  to  listen 
courteously  and  then  by  a  wholesome  evasion  of  direct 
antagonism  keep  on  in  the  path  of  common  sense.  He 
always  took  it  kindly.  Another  man  had  a  genius  for 
obstruction.  Let  almost  anything  in  the  way  of  change 
be  suggested  with  two  good  reasons,  and  his  fertile  con¬ 
servatism  would  conjure  up  three  objections.  This  habit 
was  so  well  understood  as  by  reaction  to  help  almost  any 
wise  measure. 

The  ideal  of  self-satisfaction  was  embodied  in  a  mem- 


88 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


ber  of  another  church,  who  worshiped  with  us  for  a  time. 
He  was  effusively  ready  to  aid  in  all  religious  meetings. 
He  kept  on  such  excellent  terms  with  himself  that  no 
hint  could  disturb  the  equanimity  with  which  he  poured 
forth  the  treasures  of  limitless  talk.  The  uncharitable 
thought  would  sometimes  creep  into  the  minds  of  listeners 
that  there  was  a  little  parade  of  Christian  activity.  In  a 
street-car,  crowded  with  gentlemen  returning  home  bur¬ 
dened  with  the  fatigue  of  the  day,  he  happened  at  one 
time  to  be  sitting  next  to  me.  Taking  out  a  package  of 
tracts  he  remarked,  “We  laymen  must  be  on  the  alert  to 
do  good,”  and  passed  around,  distributing  to  all  who 
would  receive.  Two  or  three  of  the  leaflets  were  put  into 
pockets;  some  went  on  to  the  floor  and  under  the  boots, 
while  some  went  out  of  the  windows. 

Louis,  second  son  of  Charles  V  of  France,  founded 
an  order  called,  “  The  Order  of  the  Porcupine.”  One  of 
our  number  appeared  to  have  been  initiated.  Quills  were 
always  ready  to  fly.  A  most  uncomfortable  habit  of  petu¬ 
lance  had  been  cultivated  till  it  seemed  as  if  neither  any¬ 
body  nor  anything  could  please.  There  was  more  than 
one  prominent  and  worthy  member  of  the  church  who 
might  rise  to  offer  prayer  or  offer  remarks,  and  this 
brother  would  at  once  leave  the  chapel  till  the  member 
sat  down.  There  was  no  lemon  to  which  he  would  not 
add  a  little  acid.  Fraternal  labor  with  the  malcontent 
seemed  to  be  of  no  use,  and  at  length  he  was  let  severely 
alone.  If  there  is  any  nuisance  greater  than  such  an 


PECULIAR  PERSONS. 


89 


affrontable  man,  it  is  the  man  who  has  a  supreme  knack 
at  misunderstanding  coupled  with  a  persistent  inability  to 
accept  explanations.  Dr.  Chalmers  relates 1  that  a  Pro¬ 
fessor  at  St.  Andrews  said  to  his  students,  “  Gentlemen, 
there  are  just  two  things  that  never  change.  These  are 
the  fixed  stars  and  the  Scotch  lairds.”  There  is  also  a 
third  small  class.  Among  the  hundreds  in  our  fellow¬ 
ship  there  was  one,  and  never  but  one  such.  His  coun¬ 
tenance  was  a  mirror  to  the  disposition.  As  he  went 
out  from  the  store  of  an  acquaintance  a  customer  re¬ 
marked,  “  That  face  is  a  libel  on  Christianity.” 

A  city  church  is  liable  to  the  incursion  of  ecclesias¬ 
tical  Bedouin,  men  wandering  about  and  attaching  them¬ 
selves  nowhere.  Among  the  transient  there  was  a  some¬ 
what  pretentious  family,  who  came  from  a  remote  part  of 
the  country.  The  father  and  husband  was  reported  to  be 
a  judge.  Our  Sunday  School  needed  a  superintendent, 
and  the  inquiry  went  round,  is  not  J  udge  Blank  the  man  ? 
All  of  a  sudden  the  family  were  missing.  No  one  knew 
where  they  had  gone.  It  became  evident  that  the  man 
was  indeed  a  judge  of  good  living  at  the  expense  of 
others,  for  livery-stable  men,  marketmen  and  grocers 
found  that  heavy  bills  remained  unpaid. 

This  leads  to  a  notice  of  one  form  of  a  pastor’s  ex¬ 
tra-parochial  experience.  The  better  informed  impostors 
seem  to  understand  that  ministers  are  particularly  fair 
game.  Professional  training  is  usually  conducted  under 


1  Life  of  Dr.  Thomas  Guthrie ,  I,  54. 


9° 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


circumstances  not  suited  to  make  them  acquainted  per¬ 
sonally  with  the  ways  of  unprincipled  men.  Their  very 
position  seems  to  invite  the  wiles  of  accomplished  knav¬ 
ery.  One  of  the  more  common  types  is  the  footsore 
pedestrian,  who  professes  to  have  been  robbed  or  to  have 
lost  his  portemonnaie,  and  desires  to  reach  a  given  place 
as  soon  as  possible.  He  has  been  summoned  on  account 
of  the  sickness  of  a  mother,  or  perhaps  a  brother  is  at 
the  point  of  death.  The  fare  is  only  a  dollar  or  two  and 
will  be  returned  promptly  by  mail.  Not  less  than  nine 
such  have  applied  under  a  variety  of  pleas,  often  upon 
the  alleged  recommendation  of  Mr.  So-and-So,  who  spoke 
of  my  great  kindness  and  readiness  to  help  the  unfortu¬ 
nate.  Particularly  well  do  I  remember  a  smooth-faced, 
precocious  rogue,  who  called  of  a  morning  and  asked  for 
aid  to  get  to  Kenyon  College,  Ohio.  He  produced  a 
forged  letter  of  commendation  over  the  name  of  a  pro¬ 
fessor  in  Union  College,  stating  that  this  was  a  “young 
man  of  great  promise,  indeed  a  genius.”  He  evidently  was 
a  genius  on  one  line.  The  evening  paper  of  that  day 
reported  him  as  in  the  hands  of  the  police  for  obtaining 
goods  under  false  pretenses. 

Undeserving  beggars  when  baffled  would  sometimes 
pour  out  vials  of  wrathful  reproach  on  the  ministry.  A 
female  who  came  in,  fawning  and  flattering  unsuccessfully, 
left  an  odor  of  brandy  that  lasted  longer  than  her  free 
lecture  to  me  on  Christian  charity.  Then  there  was  the 
tribe  of  aristocratic  peddlers.  A  gentleman  particularly 


PECULIAR  PERSONS. 


91 


well-dressed  was  announced  as  Mr.  Harris  in  the  parlor. 
Thinking  it  might  be  Dr.  Harris  of  England,  I  left  a  sen¬ 
tence  of  my  sermon  unfinished  and  on  reaching  the  par¬ 
lor  received  a  hearty  shake  of  the  hand.  “  Dr.  Thompson, 
can’t  I  sell  you  a  few  cigars  ?  I  have  extra  fine  Havanas 
which  I  myself  brought  from  Cuba.  I  supply  the  clergy 
almost  exclusively.  Dr.  Putnam  took  a  quantity  and 
thought  you  might  like  to  buy.”  I  had  understood  that 
Rev.  Dr.  Putnam  did  not  smoke.  Besides  never  having 
had  but  one  cigar  in  my  mouth,  and  that  for  only  two 
minutes  in  boyhood,  I  was  not  prepared  to  invest.  The 
distinguished  gentleman  retired.  At  another  time  a  card 
was  sent  up.  A  man  portly  and  dignified  enough  for  an 
alderman,  cane  in  hand,  stated  that  he  called  in  behalf  of 
his  wealthy  friend,  Mr.  Robinson  of  Brooklyn,  New  York. 
Mr.  Robinson,  a  retired  merchant,  was  about  removing 
to  Boston  or  vicinity,  and  having  a  family  of  children, 
would  locate  where  the  best  schools  were  found.  I  was  able 
to  make  very  satisfactory  representations  regarding  our 
schools,  public  and  private.  The  gentleman  thought  his 
friend,  Mr.  Robinson,  would  undoubtedly  locate  here,  and 
would  of  course  attend  the  Eliot  Church.  Thanks  were 
courteously  expressed.  On  rising  to  retire,  “  By  the  way, 
I  have  called  at  the  wholesale  stationery  establishments 
with  a  superior  article  of  gold  pens.  I  have  only  one  box 
remaining.  I  always  discount  largely  to  ministers.  I  am 
just  returning  to  New  York,  and  if  you  would  like  this, 
you  can  have  it  for  five  dollars.”  I  happened  to  be  sup- 


92 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


plied  and  did  not  care  to  buy  even  in  consideration  of  a 
rich  prospective  parishioner.  It  afterwards  appeared,  from 
similar  calls  on  our  pastors,  that  Mr.  Robinson  was  ready 
to  join  nearly  all  the  Boston  churches.  Such  are  a  few 
specimens  of  numerous  peculiar  classes  of  men  and  women 
who  resort  to  their  wits  for  a  livelihood  and  who  prey 
upon  the  clergy.  The  circumstances  give  little  opportu¬ 
nity  for  attempts  to  do  them  good. 

The  wandering  troubadour  is  a  nuisance  still,  as  some¬ 
times  in  the  thirteenth  century.  There  comes  to  mind 
a  peripatetic  poet  —  he  called  himself  a  poet  —  who  in¬ 
sisted  on  reading  a  Christmas  poem  more  than  fifty  years 
ago.  I  tried  to  excuse  myself  from  the  pleasure  of  listen¬ 
ing  to  his  performances,  being  in  the  midst  of  urgent  pul¬ 
pit  preparations,  but  to  no  purpose.  Sit  he  would,  and 
with  provoking  deliberation  read  foolscap  page  after  page, 
spoiling  the  greater  part  of  a  forenoon.  Not  one  line  of 
genuine  poetry  did  he  get  off ;  and  all  the  compliments 
he  got  were  before  the  rehearsal. 

But  there  is  another  class  that  occasion  pain.  It  is 
no  unusual  thing  for  strangers  laboring  under  some  hallu¬ 
cination  to  present  themselves.  As  often  as  once  in  six 
months  for  two  or  more  years  a  man  from  out  of  town 
called  on  me,  whose  morbid  conscience  allowed  him  no 
rest  and  to  whom  plain  common-sense  suggestions  brought 
no  abiding  relief.  In  other  cases  it  might  be  a  chimerical 
scheme  for  securing  wealth,  or  for  remedying  a  public 
abuse.  Some  fantastic  notion  would  soon  reveal  a  marred 


PECULIAR  PERSONS. 


93 


intellect,  and  there  are  gradations  from  a  simple  in¬ 
firmity  of  judgment  down  to  the  farthest  stretch  of  absurd¬ 
ity.  Reasoning  with  them  was  of  no  avail ;  kindness  will 
not  cure.  The  disordered  visionary  is  a  candidate  for  the 
lunatic  asylum;  but  it  is  no  part  of  a  minister’s  business 
to  pronounce  upon  cerebral  disease.  His  sympathies,  how¬ 
ever,  will  be  painfully  stirred.  Letters  came  to  me,  from 
which  the  following  are  extracts :  “  God  has  set  me  up  as 
a  perfect  moral  example  in  all  respects  to  all  men  on 
earth  “  Note  every  word  I  say  as  coming  from  God 
himself ” ;  “As  a  true  ambassador  of  Christ,  and  by  the 
grace  and  wisdom  of  God,  I  declare  to  all  men  that  dam¬ 
nation  rests  upon  every  soul  that  gives  money  to  the 
poor,  or  to  the  missionary,  however  he  professes  the  name 
of  Christ,  or  gives  money  to  the  Bible  cause.” 

At  one  period  there  was  a  wanderer  who  would  go 
into  the  prayer-meetings  of  our  Roxbury  churches,  seldom 
more  than  twice  in  immediate  succession.  He  was  weak, 
ignorant,  conceited  and  fanatical,  claiming  to  have  direct 
communication  from  God  and  also  power  to  work  miracles. 
If  ever  ranged,  he  was  then  undoubtedly  deranged.  As 
soon  as  opportunity  offered,  he  would  rise  and  either  talk 
or  pray  indefinitely  and  incoherently.  Two  of  our  devo¬ 
tional  gatherings  had  thus  been  spoiled.  Upon  his  third 
appearance  I  took  occasion  to  occupy  the  entire  hour  my¬ 
self,  and  the  pitiable  rover  never  put  in  an  appearance 
again. 

There  are  two  classes  of  vagrants,  neither  of  which 


94 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


can  be  suspected  of  insanity  or  idiocy,  that  will  bear 
pretty  careful  scrutiny,  the  boastfully  philanthropic  and 
the  volubly  pious.  Specimens  of  each  present  them¬ 
selves  not  infrequently.  The  case  of  some  church  or  in¬ 
stitution  —  it  may  be  at  the  extreme  south  or  on  mission¬ 
ary  ground  —  for  which  personal  sacrifices  are  alleged  to 
have  been  made,  will  be  pleaded.  Perhaps  a  mortgage  is 
about  to  be  foreclosed.  Adequate  vouchers  are  wanting, 
or  if  produced,  suggest  forgery.  Thirty  years  ago  a  man, 

announcing  himself  as  the  Rev.  Mr.  - ,  solicited  funds 

in  this  neighborhood  in  aid  of  an  orphan  asylum  for  chil¬ 
dren  of  loyal  citizens  at  Osceola,  Alabama,  if  I  remember 
rightly.  Upon  inquiry,  it  appeared  that  no  such  man  was 
known  there,  nor  any  such  institution ;  that  of  the  three 
trustees  whose  names  he  gave,  two  died  ten  years  before, 
while  the  other  had  never  been  heard  of.  Some  years 
later  a  richly-dressed  woman,  hailing  from  Savannah, 
Georgia,  drove  to  my  door  in  a  handsome  carriage.  She 
was  importuning  for  funds  to  buy  herself  a  house,  under 
the  plea  that  she  befriended  Union  prisoners  at  Ander- 
sonville. 

An  individual  professing  to  belong  to  a  church,  a 
Congregational  church  in  a  neighboring  state,  called  a 
second  time,  after  an  interval  of  two  or  more  years,  with 
the  same  story  about  his  prayers  and  his  Christian  hope¬ 
fulness.  He  seemed  to  have  forgotten  that  he  had  ever 
been  to  my  house  before.  I  wrote  to  the  pastor  of  the 
distant  church  and  promptly  received  the  following  reply : 


PECULIAR  PERSONS. 


95 


“  There  was  formerly  a  man  connected  with  our  church 

by  the  name  of  -  - .  He  was  dropped  from  our 

roll  for  non-attendance  and  general  neglect  of  covenant 
obligations.  I  think  he  is  a  thriftless  fellow.” 

It  is  better  to  be  imposed  upon  occasionally  than  to 
have  one’s  kind  feelings  and  habit  of  helping  the  needy 
absolutely  checked ;  but  caution  is  as  much  a  duty  as 
beneficence.  The  presumption  is  not  always  in  favor  of 
roving  mendicants.  That  generation,  ingenious  and  bold, 
seems  not  to  be  dying  out. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


CHURCH  FUNCTIONS. 
i.  Sacramental  Services . 

Hallowed  as  are  these  seasons,  and  deeply  as  they 
are  enjoyed  on  alternate  months  through  the  year,  not  a 
great  deal  need  be  said  of  them.  The  sacred  supper  is 
too  profoundly  yet  plainly  significant  to  be  much  talked 
about.  For  adoration  and  gratitude  there  will  indeed  be 
endless  scope.  No  other  event,  from  creation  to  the  final 
conflagration,  can  compare  with  the  death  of  Christ. 
That  was  something  more  and  other  than  martyrdom, 
something  else  than  an  event  in  the  natural  course  of 
things,  a  result  of  mere  development.  It  was  specially 
designed  by  infinite  wisdom ;  it  was  the  provision  of  in¬ 
finite  love,  indispensable  to  the  salvation  of  sinners. 
Christ  came  “to  save  that  which  was  lost;”  and  “With¬ 
out  shedding  of  blood  is  no  remission.”  The  bleat  of 
sacrificial  innocence  had  for  thousands  of  years  prefig¬ 
ured  this  offering  of  the  Lamb  of  God.  No  mortal  ear 
before  or  since  ever  caught  so  weighty  an  utterance  as 
“It  is  finished.”  Atonement  was  then  accomplished. 
The  most  blameless  being  on  earth  was  the  greatest  suf¬ 
ferer  earth  ever  saw,  and  not  one  pang  was  deserved  by 
him.  All  was  for  guilty  men.  By  his  own  free  choice 
the  scourging  fell  on  him  instead  of  us.  Here  is  the 


CHURCH  FUNCTIONS. 


97 


crowning  miracle  of  all  duration ;  here  the  basis  of  for¬ 
giveness;  here  the  heart  of  the  Gospel.  Holy,  harmless, 
undefiled,  separate  from  sinners,  he  put  himself  in  the 
place  of  sinners.  Christ’s  body  was  broken,  his  “  precious 
blood  ”  “  shed  for  the  remission  of  sins.” 

The  only  alternative  now  is  pardon  and  life  eternal 
through  Christ,  or  else  sinners  unforgiven  and  unsanctified; 
it  is  Calvary  or  the  other  side  of  the  impassable  gulf. 
“  He  that  believeth  on  the  Son  hath  everlasting  life ;  and 
he  that  believeth  not  the  Son  shall  not  see  life;  but  the 
wrath  of  God  abideth  on  him.”  So  saith  the  faithful  and 
true  Witness.  If  I  believe  him  I  must  believe  on  him. 
We  have  “Peace  through  the  blood  of  his  cross”  alone. 
The  rending  of  rocks  was  not  so  wonderful  as  the  broken 
heart  of  the  crucified  thief  and  the  assurance  to  him  of 
salvation  that  very  day.  The  cry  “  I  thirst,”  signified 
there  need  be  no  vain  cry  for  a  drop  of  water  to  cool  the 
tongue  of  any  one  “tormented  in  this  flame.” 

Sacred  raptures  swell  the  heart  while  contemplating 
the  supreme  fact  of  the  atoning  sacrifice,  its  infinitely  mo¬ 
mentous  result  of  heaven  and  earth  reconciled;  God’s  love 
of  man  and  his  abhorrence  of  sin  set  forth;  the  beauty  of 
transcendent  grace  and  the  glory  of  divine  justice  com¬ 
bined  in  unutterable  splendor  on  the  cross.  In  symbols 
of  utmost  simplicity  we  “  Behold  the  Lamb  of  God  that 
taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world,”  standing  out  distinctly 
before  the  eye  of  faith.  Was  there  not  unsurpassed  moral 
sublimity  when  our  Lord,  “  The  same  night  in  which  he 


98 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


was  betrayed,”  breaking  the  bread  and  taking  the  cup, 
“gave  thanks?”  Was  he  not  aware  of  his  vast  resources 
of  suffering?  Could  he  not  foresee  how  all  waves  and  bil¬ 
lows  would  soon  go  over  him  ?  Yet  he  gave  thanks. 
What  a  eucharist  then  should  this  ordinance  be  for  ran¬ 
somed  sinners !  And  never  has  such  joy  unspeakable  and 
full  of  glory  been  experienced  as  when  believers  sit  at  the 
table  of  sacramental  fellowship.  If  there  is  any  service 
from  which  all  sense  of  hurry  and  all  irrelevant  thoughts 
should  be  banished,  it  is  this  memorial  of  boundless  divine 
love.  In  order  to  secure  perfect  quietness  and  appropriate 
concentration  of  thought,  our  church  transferred  the  obser¬ 
vance  to  the  after  part  of  Lord’s  Day,  devoting  the  entire 
time  to  this  and  the  companion  ordinance. 

The  enjoyments  of  those  seasons  were  usually 
heightened  by  new  accessions  of  communicants.  Only  a 
few  of  the  eight-score  such  seasons  passed  without  a  wel¬ 
come  to  some  who  joined  our  ranks  from  other  churches, 
or  else  on  their  first  public  confession  of  faith.  In  one 
instance  there  were  a  little  over  thirty,  more  than  half  of 
whom  belonged  to  the  latter  class,  and  in  another  instance 
nearly  fifty,  all  but  ten  of  them  recent  converts.  On  the 
occasion  of  a  young  lady  coming  forward  quite  alone  to 
confess  Christ,  I  simply  said,  “Is  there  but  one  to  enjoy 
this  privilege?  ”  and  that  was  blessed  to  the  conversion  of 
a  companion  of  hers.  At  another  time,  as  I  was  pro¬ 
nouncing  the  Master’s  words,  “Ye  do  show  the  Lord’s 
death  till  he  come,”  an  officer  of  the  church  whispered  in 


CHURCH  FUNCTIONS. 


99 


my  ear,  “  Mrs.  Blank  is  dying.”  The  Master  had  come 
and  was  calling  for  her.  She  was  about  to  drink  the  fruit 
of  the  vine  with  Him  new  in  the  Father’s  kingdom. 

In  the  reading  of  the  Articles  of  Faith  and  the  Cov¬ 
enant  there  did  not  seem  to  be  all  of  heartiness  that  the 
occasion  required.  Hence  was  introduced  the  custom  of 
giving  a  right-hand  of  fellowship  in  behalf  of  the  church 
to  each  new  member  at  the  time  of  public  recognition, 
together  with  a  verse  of  Scripture  and  a  few  words  of 
welcome.  In  case  a  large  number  were  received  a  collec¬ 
tive  greeting  was  given,  some  one  as  a  representative  of 
the  whole  receiving  the  right-hand.1 

The  baptism  of  children  usually  took  place  at  the 
same  hour  with  the  commemorative  supper.  When  par¬ 
ents  present  children  for  the  sealing  ordinance  their  minds 
are  naturally  occupied  more  or  less  with  outward  care  of 
the  little  folks.  Hence  an  exposition  of  the  rite,  which 
is  read  publicly  at  the  time,  may  well  be  privately  pon¬ 
dered  beforehand.  A  copy  of  the  following  was  season¬ 
ably  handed  them :  — 

BAPTISMAL  SERVICE. 


The  rite  now  to  be  administered  is  no  human  invention,  but  is  a 
divine  ordinance. 

Baptism  is  a  SIGN.  It  signifies  that  salvation  is  from  God,  into 
whose  triune  name  as  the  One  purposing,  procuring,  and  applying  re- 

1  When  this  was  mentioned  at  the  Monday  Meeting  of  Pastors,  several 
of  them  said  they  should  adopt  the  practice. 


IOO 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


demption,  our  offspring  are  baptized.  It  suggests  that  the  adopting 
favor  of  God  comes  through  “  sprinkling  of  the  blood  of  Jesus  Christ.” 

Herein  is  a  SEAL.  An  agreement  between  the  believing  parent 
and  the  God  of  Abraham  in  behalf  of  the  child  is  thus  ratified.  Trusting 
the  Word  of  him  who  keepeth  covenant  and  showeth  mercy,  the  parent 
engages  to  train  the  child  “  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord.” 
He  whose  Word  cannot  be  broken  promises,  “  I  will  be  a  God  unto  thee  and 
to  thy  seed  after  thee.”  In  the  presence  of  witnesses  sacramental  water 
seals  this  compact. 

Herein  are  BENEFITS.  The  ordinance  secures  to  the  child  a 
recognized  place  in  the  devout  interest  of  the  church.  It  gives  dis¬ 
tinctness  to  the  highest  of  parental  duties  and  privileges.  It  is  a  testi¬ 
mony  to  the  covenanted  faithfulness  of  our  God.  “  The  mercy  of  the 
Lord  is  from  everlasting  to  everlasting  upon  them  that  fear  Him,  and  His 
righteousness  unto  children’s  children  to  such  as  keep  His  covenant,  and 
to  those  that  remember  His  commandments  to  do  them.” 

“  For  the  promise  is  unto  you  and  to  your  children,  and  to  all  that 
are  afar  off,  even  as  many  as  the  Lord  our  God  shall  call.” 

“  And  if  ye  be  Christ’s,  then  are  ye  Abraham’s  seed  and  heirs  according 
to  the  promise.” 

“  Jesus  called  them  unto  Him  and  said :  ‘  Suffer  little  children  to 
come  unto  Me,  and  forbid  them  not,  for  of  such  is  the  kingdom  of 
God.’  ” 


2 .  Church  Prayer  Meeting. 

A  threadbare  repetition  of  the  remark  that  man  is  a 
social  being  goes  on.  But  the  Christian  man’s  experience 
and  new  relations  demand  a  fellowship  as  peculiar  as  his 
changed  moral  position.  The  clique,  the  league,  the  club 
do  not  meet  the  case.  There  is  needed  something  else 


CHURCH  FUNCTIONS. 


IOI 


than  conviviality,  something  more  than  mere  neighborly 
gathering  together.  Nothing  short  of  a  hallowed  soiree 
will  meet  the  case,  where  a  genuine,  fraternal  feeling  pre¬ 
vails,  where  no  selfish  aim  is  entertained,  where  mutual 
confidence  exists,  where  the  unseen  loving  cup  goes  round, 
where  the  service  of  song  lifts  the  soul  well  up  toward 
heaven.  All  is  in  the  name  of  Christ.  Every  one  feels 
that  he  is  where  a  blessed  joint-stock  exists ;  that  here  he 
is  in  the  bosom  of  a  family,  the  relationship  of  which  is 
more  intimate  and  more  saintly  than  what  blood  in  any 
degree  of  kinship  can  give.  Is  any  absentee  sick  or  be¬ 
reaved?  There  is  a  tender  and  devout  remembrance  of 
such.  The  church  prayer  meeting  is  a  school  of  culture, 
the  like  of  which  can  be  found  nowhere  except  in  the 
presence  and  under  the  guidance  of  the  Great  Master.  Its 
need  and  benefits  are  now  widely  admitted.  As  a  method 
of  church  fellowship  it  ranks  next  to  the  sacramental  sup¬ 
per.  It  is  a  normal  school  of  Christian  communion,  where 
the  social  element,  hallowed  and  beautified  by  common 
thanksgiving,  praise  and  intercession,  has  free  exercise. 
If  in  the  laws  of  Moses  there  is  no  requirement,  there  is 
also  no  prohibition  of  such  gatherings.  It  is  a  significant 
fact  that  the  present  dispensation,  the  dispensation  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  the  dispensation  of  freedom,  of  stimulus  for 
diffusion,  should  open  with  the  longest  prayer  meeting  on 
record.  The  early  Christians  maintained  the  usage  in 
private  houses,  by  a  river-side,  or  wherever  convenience 
and  safety  might  suggest.  This  practice  continued  as 


102 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


long  as  a  fair  measure  of  purity  and  spirituality  con¬ 
tinued.  “We  come,”  says  Turtullian  in  the  second  cen¬ 
tury,  “  by  troops  to  make  our  prayers  to  God ;  that  being 
banded,  as  it  were,  together,  we  may  with  a  strong  hand 
sue  to  him  for  his  favor.  This  violence  is  grateful  unto 
God.”  For  substance  Ambrose  in  the  fourth  century  has 
the  same:  “Many  of  the  meanest  being  gathered  together 
unanimously  become  great.  It  is  impossible  that  the 
prayers  of  many  should  be  contemned.” 

During  the  spiritual  decline  which  accompanied  the 
introduction  of  Unitarianism  into  Eastern  Massachusetts 
the  prayer  meeting  waned  sensibly.  Laymen  took  no 
part.  Those  members  of  the  Old  South  Church,  Bos¬ 
ton,  who  were  preparing  to  establish  Park  Street  Church, 
did  not  deem  it  proper  that  any  of  their  number  should 
lead  in  their  devotions.  At  private  gatherings  they  either 
omitted  audible  prayer  wholly,  or  else  requested  Dr.  Eckley 
to  officiate.1  When  the  late  Dr.  Storrs  was  settled  in 
Braintree  he  found  that  social  prayer  meetings  had  long 

fallen  into  disuse.  It  was  six  months  before  he  could  per¬ 
suade  a  layman  to  offer  prayer  or  say  a  word  at  such  con¬ 
ferences.2  Dr.  William  Goodell  says  regarding  Temple¬ 
ton,  that  the  pastor,  Mr.  Sparhawk,  considered  prayer  meet¬ 
ings  and  revivals  as  pure  innovations.  Although  his  dea¬ 
cons  were  exemplary  men,  no  one  of  them  ever  opened 


1  Congregational  Quarterly.  October,  i860. 

2  Professor  Park’s  Sermon  at  the  Ftmeral  of  Dr.  Storrs. 


CHURCH  FUNCTIONS.  IO3 

his  lips  in  public  prayer  or  exhortation.  The  people  nat¬ 
urally  slid  down  into  Unitarianism.1 

The  Eliot  Church  was  the  offspring  of  prayer.  Weekly 
gatherings  for  conference  and  supplication  were  held  be¬ 
fore  the  calling  of  an  ecclesiastical  council,  and  have  since 
been  maintained  without  interruption.  In  the  midst  of 
mid-winter  storms  the  attendance  has  sometimes  been 
small,  but  the  service  all  the  more  free  and  enjoyable.  At 
such  times  we  have  formed  a  hollow  square  of  settees,  and 
all  gathered  close  together  occupying  a  space  less  than 
half  of  an  average  parlor.  The  service  would  easily  take 
a  conversational  form,  and  personal  experiences  would 
come  to  the  front,  though  with  due  reserve.  Such  house¬ 
hold  freedom  suggests  thanksgiving  rather  than  complain¬ 
ing  about  storm  and  cold.  At  one  meeting  of  that  kind 
was  a  little  boy  nine  years  old,  who  came  with  his  father. 
He  rose  and  without  hesitation  offered  the  Lord’s  Prayer 
very  appropriately.  His  Sunday  School  teacher,  a  man 
forty  years  of  age,  and  four  years  a  church  member,  always 
declined  taking  an  active  part  in  social  meetings. 

The  larger  attendance  would  modify  but  not  suppress 
individual  liberty.  Perfection  of  method  is  not  easily  at¬ 
tained.  Sometimes  there  is  preaching  in  prayer,  some¬ 
times  prolixity.  The  power  of  condensation  seems  not  to 
be  a  general  gift.  Nor  is  directness  and  ability  to  keep  to 
a  specified  topic.  This  is  by  no  means  peculiar  to  laymen. 
At  annual  meetings  of  the  American  Board  I  have  re- 


*  Forty  Years  in  the  Turkish  Empire.  16. 


104 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


peatedly  noticed  that  when  some  paper  had  been  read,  or 
when  in  some  other  way  an  important  subject  had  been 
introduced,  a  minister  would  be  called  upon  to  offer  prayer 
and  yet  fail  entirely  to  touch  the  particular  theme  then 
before  the  assembly.  A  narrow,  uniform,  stereotyped  round 
of  supplication  betrays  a  sad  devotional  poverty.  Bishop 
Simson  said  to  a  friend  with  whom  he  was  returning  from  a 
religious  service,  “  That  was  a  beautiful  prayer  we  heard.” 
“Yes,”  replied  his  friend,  “it  was  so,  but  I  have  heard  it 
for  the  last  twenty  years.” *  1 II. III. IV. 

The  Eliot  Church  has  happily  never  fallen  into  the 
ambitious  habit  of  getting  the  largest  number  possible  to 
take  active  part  in  any  given  service.  The  gallop  is  hardly 
the  appropriate  gait  on  such  an  occasion.  A  meeting 
may  be  called  spirited  and  yet  be  barren  of  spiritual 
influence. 

With  a  view  to  promoting  individual  and  collective 
benefit  I  prepared  (1858),  and  from  time  to  time  distributed, 
a  leaflet  entitled  “  Our  Prayer  Meeting.” 2  It  evidently 

1  How  to  Conduct  Prayer  Meetings.  87. 

2  OUR  PRAYER  MEETING. 

I.  I  purpose  to  be  there  regularly  and  punctually. 

“  Not  forsaking  the  assembling  of  ourselves  together.” 

II.  I  will  endeavor  to  draw  others  to  the  meeting. 

“  Come  thou  with  us,  and  we  will  do  thee  good.” 

III.  Before  entering  the  place  of  prayer  I  will  ask  the  Saviour’s 

presence. 

“We  would  see  Jesus.” 

IV.  I  will  not,  unless  it  is  necessary,  occupy  a  back  seat. 

“  How  pleasant  it  is  for  brethren  to  dwell  together  in  unity.” 


CHURCH  FUNCTIONS. 


J°5 

proved  helpful.  Either  with  or  without  permission,  and 
either  with  or  without  additions,  it  has  been  revised  by 
individuals  and  publishing  societies  in  this  country,  as 
well  as  in  England  and  Australia,  besides  being  trans¬ 
lated  into  Marathi.  Mr.  H.  E.  Simmons,  then  of  Boston, 
told  me  in  1869  that  he  had  already  sold  34,000  copies. 

In  every  brotherhood,  of  any  considerable  age  and  size, 
there  will  perhaps  be  found  here  and  there  one  who  is 
never  seen  at  a  devotional  gathering;  but  let  there  come 
before  the  body  a  case  of  discipline,  or  the  dismission  of 
a  pastor,  and  such  men  are  on  hand.  They  are  not  likely 
to  be  called  upon  to  pray,  and  their  sympathies  for  an 
offending  brother  are  sure  to  be  as  pronounced  as  their 
prejudice  against  the  minister.  I  was  once  talking  with 

V.  I  will  not  so  seat  myself  as  to  hinder  others  from  occupying  the 
same  settee  with  me. 

“  Be  courteous.” 

VI.  I  will  refrain  from  fault-finding,  and  will  not  indulge  a  criticis¬ 
ing  spirit. 

“  Be  ye  kindly  affectioned  one  to  another.” 

VII.  I  will  not  expressly  dissent  from  one  who  has  spoken,  and  will 
avoid  giving  the  impression  of  variance  of  feeling. 

“  That  they  may  be  made  perfect  in  one.” 

VIII.  So  far  as  is  consistent,  I  will  assist  actively  in  the  exercises,  by 
testifying  to  the  love  of  Christ,  by  exhortation,  by  a  passage 
of  Scripture,  a  hymn,  a  stanza,  or  otherwise. 

“  Let  the  word  of  Christ  dwell  in  you  richly  in  all  wisdom,  teaching  and 
admonishing  one  another  in  psalms,  and  hymns,  and  spiritual  songs.” 

IX.  I  will  not  decline  to  lead  in  prayer,  and  in  offering  prayer  will 
begin  with  the  subject  in  hand,  and  in  aid  of  what  has  just 
been  said. 

“Ye  also  helping  together  by  prayer  for  us.” 

X.  If  I  offer  the  first  prayer,  it  shall  be  chiefly  an  invocation,  ask 
ing  the  Saviour’s  special  presence  and  aid. 

“  For  without  me  ye  can  do  nothing.” 


106  ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 

a  neighboring  pastor  of  long  experience,  who  had  had 
occasion  to  notice  this  circumstance,  and  who  remarked, 
“  Thou  makest  darkness,  and  it  is  night,  wherein  all  beasts 
of  the  forest  do  creep  forth.” 

Needless  absence  from  the  stated  meeting  may  always 
be  assumed  to  involve  loss.  Did  Thomas  ever  cease  while 
life  lasted,  to  lament  his  not  being  present  when  fellow  dis¬ 
ciples  first  met  their  risen  Lord  ?  Whoever  may  fail,  the 
Lord  does  not.  Was  the  indefatigable  Felix  Neff  amidst 
the  snows  of  the  high  Alps  wholly  mistaken  ?  “  I  am  con¬ 

firmed  in  the  opinion,”  said  he,  “  that  whosoever,  even 
were  he  an  angel,  should  neglect  such  meetings,  under 
any  pretext  whatever,  is  very  little  to  be  depended  on,  and 
cannot  be  reckoned  among  the  sheep  of  Christ’s  fold.” 

XI.  My  prayers  or  remarks  shall  not  be  long. 

“For  God  is  in  heaven,  and  thou  upon  earth;  therefore  let  thy 
words  be  few.” 

XII.  I  will  not  seem  to  harangue  nor  teach  in  prayer,  as  though  I 
were  thinking  of  man  more  than  of  God. 

“We  speak  before  God  in  Christ.” 

XIII.  I  will  not  speak  merely  to  fill  a  vacancy,  but  will  rather  offer 
prayer  during  pauses  in  the  meeting. 

“  That  thy  benefit  should  not  be  as  it  were  of  necessity,  but 
willingly.” 

XIV.  I  will  not  needlessly  expose  any  want  of  faith,  or  other  dis¬ 
couragements. 

“  Who  is  fearful  and  faint-hearted,  let  him  return.” 

XV.  I  will  cultivate  enlargement  of  faith  and  desires. 

“  Let  us  therefore  come  boldly  unto  the  throne  of  grace.” 

XVI.  On  leaving  the  place  I  will  endeavor  to  maintain  a  devout  frame 
of  mind. 

“  Continue  in  prayer.” 

XVII.  I  will  also  endeavor  to  use  all  means  suited  to  secure  the  bless¬ 
ings  for  which  I  have  prayed. 

“Faith,  without  works,  is  dead  also.” 


CHURCH  FUNCTIONS. 


107 


In  attending  by  invitation  the  one  hundred  and  fiftieth 
anniversary  of  the  church  at  Pomphret,  Conn.,  I  was  much 
impressed  by  a  remark  of  Governor  Buckingham  of  that 
state.  After  the  chief  services  of  the  day  he  was  urged 
to  remain  to  a  reception  and  reunion  in  the  evening.  “  I 
must  return  to  Norwich,”  he  replied,  “  to  attend  the  prayer 
meeting  of  our  church.” 

As  a  general  thing  the  Eliot  Church  maintained  a 
good  attendance  at  its  week-day  meeting.  It  was  no  un¬ 
usual  thing  for  business  men  to  stop  at  the  chapel  on  the 
way  from  Boston  at  evening  in  order  to  enjoy  the  devo¬ 
tional  hour  before  going  home  to  the  principal  meal  of 
the  day.  “  They  continued  steadfastly  in  the  apostle’s  doc¬ 
trine  and  fellowship  and  in  prayers.”  Never  was  the  dread¬ 
ful  sentence  heard,  “  Sleep  on  now.”  Often  was  the  testi¬ 
mony  heard,  “  It  is  good  for  us  to  be  here.”  Many  a 
memorial  stone  was  set  up  at  our  Mizpeh,  inscribed,  “  Hith¬ 
erto  hath  the  Lord  helped  us.” 

Earnest  specific  intercession  was  encouraged,  and 
results  such  as  the  following  not  infrequently  came  to 
light.  In  1866  I  met  with  a  lady  who  had  been  very  gay, 
but  who  joined  our  congregation  and  not  long  after  adopted 
an  entirely  new  mode  of  life.  Calling  on  her  mother,  a 
Christian  woman  —  they  did  not  live  together  —  I  found 
that  for  two  weeks  she  had  been  praying  for  that  daugh¬ 
ter,  with  such  a  burden  upon  her  heart  as  to  deprive  her 
of  rest  at  night.  At  length  she  became  composed,  resolv¬ 
ing  to  leave  the  case  with  God.  The  same  day  the  daugh- 


io8 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


ter  announced  her  conversion.  Manifest  spiritual  quicken¬ 
ing  was  enjoyed,  Christian  activity  was  promoted,  and 
Sunday  congregations  gave  evidence  of  special  divine  in¬ 
fluences.  Not  infrequently  has  written  testimony  to  the 
power  and  value  of  those  meetings  come  from  members  in 
remote  parts  of  our  land  as  well  as  from  some  in  foreign 
countries.  The  chief  criticism  that  I  should  offer,  respects 
a  certain  tardiness  in  appreciating  the  privilege  of  asking 
and  expecting  great  things;  the  duty  of  interceding  up  to 
the  measure  of  divine  assurances  and  the  might  of  Christ’s 
mediation.  It  did  not  seem  to  be  generally  apprehended  that 
the  sun  can  as  easily  illumine  a  hemisphere  as  a  humble 
cottage.  Apparent  deafness  on  high  is  only  the  coldness 
of  unbelief  here  below. 

j.  Special  Church  Fellowship. 

Somewhere  in  the  sixties  there  began  the  custom  of 
a  gathering  —  it  might  be  only  annual,  or  it  might  be 
oftener — for  special  church  fellowship.  It  was  confined 
exclusively  to  our  own  members.  Being  by  itself,  the 
church  had  a  favorable  opportunity  to  cultivate  a  sense  of 
unity.  There  was  manifestly  a  home  feeling.  The  pastor 
could  speak  of  some  things  much  more  freely  and  confi¬ 
dentially  than  if  others,  though  Christian  men  and  women, 
were  present.  It  was  a  family  gathering.  There  was  felt 
to  be  a  community  of  interests  and  responsibilities. 

At  the  time  of  the  first  assemblage  of  this  sort  there 
seemed  to  be  a  critical  juncture.  There  was  an  increased 


CHURCH  FUNCTIONS. 


109 


numerical  amount  of  prayers  in  the  congregation  without 
a  corresponding  increase  of  earnest  prayerfulness.  There 
were  encouraging  tokens,  there  was  a  quickened  religious 
expectancy,  and  yet  a  degree  of  hesitancy.  It  appeared  as 
if  God  were  putting  us  upon  trial,  intimating  a  great  bless¬ 
ing,  and  then  waiting  to  see  if  the  church  appreciated  the 
intimation.  We  had  been  reading  the  thirteenth  and  four¬ 
teenth  chapters  of  Numbers,  and  the  consequences  of  fail¬ 
ure  in  loyalty  at  an  emergency  were  fresh  in  mind.  Israel 
had  reached  the  southern  border  of  Canaan;  their  unbe¬ 
lief  and  cowardice  were  the  only  reasons  why  they  could 
not  at  once  enter,  conquer  and  possess  the  promised  land. 
But  they  became  faint-hearted.  They  would  not  meet  the 
demands  of  Providence,  nor  trust  in  the  Lord  God  of 
Sabaoth.  Shrinking  from  duty  and  privilege  cost  them 
years  of  hardship  and  unblessed  wandering  as  a  penal  con¬ 
sequence.  It  is  most  hazardous  for  a  church  to  hesitate 
when  a  juncture  evidently  favorable  for  going  forward  pre¬ 
sents  itself.  The  brotherhood  were  told  plainly  that  there 
seemed  to  be  little  of  confession,  little  brokenness  of  heart 
and  tenderness. 

The  specialty  of  the  time  called  for  such  plain  deal¬ 
ing,  and  it  was  evidently  blessed.  Soon  after  that  another 
similar  meeting  was  held,  and  the  result  more  than  justi¬ 
fied  the  occasion.  The  practice  of  assembling  thus,  at 
least  once  a  year,  became  established.  As  soon,  however, 
as  it  became  a  fixed  observance  at  a  particular  date,  it 
naturally  ceased  to  be  followed  by  marked  spiritual  bene- 


no 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


fits.  But  other  results  —  and  they  are  not  unimportant  — 
followed.  We  had  the  chief  area  of  our  chapel  floor 
cleared  of  seats,  and  an  opportunity  thus  secured  for  un¬ 
embarrassed  intermingling  of  members.  A  chief  feature 
of  the  occasion  then  was  freedom  and  exhilarating  cheer¬ 
fulness  of  greetings  and  fraternal  intercourse.  The  amount 
of  smiles  and  reciprocal  cordiality  on  the  part  even  of 
those  not  previously  acquainted  was  refreshing  to  behold. 
Little  alienations  were  healed.  Some  confessed  they  had 
not  before  known  what  church  fellowship  was.  I  am  not 
aware  that  any  one  present  at  those  Agapce  had  any  other 
feeling  than  that  of  satisfaction.  Some  I  know  were  de¬ 
lighted.  Owing  probably  to  their  speaking  of  it  elsewhere, 
letters  came  to  me  from  ministers  making  inquiry  about 
the  method  and  results  of  such  fellowship  meetings. 


4.  Church  Discipline . 

No  injunctions  of  the  New  Testament  are  more  posi¬ 
tive  than  those  which  require  the  maintenance  of  sound 
doctrine  and  good  order  in  the  church.  “  A  man  that  is 
heretical,  after  a  first  and  second  admonition,  refuse  ” 
(Titus  3:  10).  “Now  we  command  you,  brethren,  in  the 
name  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  ye  withdraw  your¬ 
selves  from  every  brother  that  walketh  disorderly  and  not 
after  the  tradition  which  he  received  of  us  ”  (2  Thess. 

3  :  6).  To  disregard  these  requirements  when  known 
cases  of  offence  exist,  is  to  incur  disapprobation  from  the 


CHURCH  FUNCTIONS. 


Ill 


Head  of  the  Church.  To  enter  upon  the  work  of  eccle¬ 
siastical  censure  in  an  unchristian  spirit,  or  to  pursue  it  in 
unscriptural  methods  is  also  to  provoke  divine  displeasure. 
The  proper  way  of  proceeding  is  plainly  pointed  out  in 
the  eighteenth  chapter  of  Matthew’s  Gospel.  The  welfare 
of  the  brotherhood  by  reclaiming  the  offender  should  always 
be  the  aim.  And  the  latter  may  generally  be  expected. 
“  Brethren,  if  a  man  be  overtaken  in  a  fault,  ye  which  are 
spiritual  restore  such  an  one  in  the  spirit  of  meekness,  con¬ 
sidering  thyself  lest  thou  also  be  tempted.”  It  should  be 
remembered  that  when  an  individual  member  is  under  dis¬ 
cipline,  the  whole  church  is  also  virtually  on  trial.  It  will 
appear  what  the  spirit  of  the  whole  body  is ;  whether  re¬ 
sentments  exist,  or  whether  God’s  honor  is  the  inspiring 
motive.  No  small  amount  of  prayer  and  sanctified  self- 
control  will  generally  be  required. 

It  is  a  gratifying  remembrance  that  the  several  cases 
which  came  before  the  Eliot  Church  were  conducted  in 
strict  conformity  with  established  rules  and  for  the  most 
part  in  apparently  an  excellent  spirit.  The  required  pre¬ 
liminary  steps  were  taken  and  much  pains  bestowed  upon 
efforts  to  reclaim.  In  no  instance  was  there  any  precipi¬ 
tancy  in  bringing  a  case  before  the  church  for  adjudica¬ 
tion.  Several  members  who  at  different  times  had  been 
labored  with  privately,  came  before  the  church  with  frank 
confessions,  and  received  tokens  of  renewed  fraternal  con¬ 
fidence.  One  who  had  been  cut  off  removed  his  residence, 
but  the  discipline  was  blessed  to  his  conversion.  He 


I  12 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


joined  another  church  with  our  cognizance,  and  on  mov¬ 
ing  back  to  Roxbury,  brought  a  letter  of  recommendation 
and  was  welcomed  to  our  fellowship  once  more.  In  every 
case  of  persistent  failure  to  do  this  unanimity,  or  proxi¬ 
mate  unanimity  for  the  withdrawment  of  fellowship,  was 
secured.  One,  for  example,  was  that  of  a  man  who,  after 
becoming  a  spiritualist,  renounced  the  authority  of  Sacred 
Scripture  and  the  validity  of  all  fundamental  doctrines  of 
Christianity.  So  serenely  self-satisfied  was  he  in  the  re¬ 
nunciation  of  church  vows  as  to  quietly  admit  the  pro¬ 
priety  of  his  excommunication. 

There  were  two  or  three  individuals  who  would  have 
been  glad  to  have  some  standing  rule  adopted  by  which 
“members  whose  doctrinal  views  have  undergone  a  radical 
change  may  receive  a  certificate  of  good  moral  character, 
and  when  received  by  any  church  with  which  ours  has  no 
fellowship,  the  relation  shall  be  considered  at  an  end.” 
But  an  authority  a  good  deal  higher  than  any  treatise  on 
Congregationalism  says  “  refuse.”  And  it  further  reads : 
“  There  arose  false  prophets  also  among  the  people,  as 
among  you  also  there  shall  be  false  teachers,  who  shall 
privily  bring  in  destructive  heresies,  denying  even  the  Mas¬ 
ter  that  bought  them,  bringing  upon  themselves  swift  de¬ 
struction”  (2  Peter  2  :  1).  The  proper  method  seems  to 
be  laid  down  explicitly  and  is  exclusive,  no  other  having 
scriptural  sanction.  Unfeigned  tenderness  should  be  shown 
and  patient  labor  put  forth  to  convince  and  reclaim  the 
erring  one.  The  Bible  holds  men  no  less  responsible  for 


CHURCH  FUNCTIONS. 


JI3 


their  belief  than  for  their  lives.  The  church  is  made  the 
practical  depository  and  witness  of  the  great  essentials  of 
our  religion.  In  the  very  basis  of  the  church  there  is  a 
compound  contract,  a  contract  between  each  member  and 
the  rest  of  the  brotherhood;  also  between  the  church  in 
its  collective  capacity  and  the  triune  God.  The  contract 
is  entered  into  with  more  solemnity,  and  is  one  to  which 
attaches  no  less  sanctity  than  to  any  other  on  earth.  The 
perpetuity  of  its  obligation  when  assumed  is  understood. 
The  proposed  method  of  easy  slipping  out  of  the  church 
involves  the  following  interpretation  of  language :  “  Be¬ 
loved  in  the  Lord,  let  it  not  be  forgotten  that  you  have 
here  come  under  obligations  from  which  you  cannot  escape  ” 
till  you  change  your  views  on  the  essentials  of  Christianity ; 
“you  can  never  withdraw  from  the  covenant  which  has 
now  been  confirmed  ”  till  you  become  a  Unitarian  or  a 
Roman  Catholic.  In  an  analogous  compact  the  tenor 
would  be,  “  Y ou  severally  promise  to  love,  cherish  and 
honor  each  other,”  till  you  see  some  one  you  like  better; 
“What  God  hath  joined  together  let  not  man  put  asun¬ 
der,”  till  you  change  your  minds,  and  then  you  shall  be 
mutually  and  honorably  discharged. 


5.  Revivals . 

The  history  of  revivals  records  the  fact  that  seasons 
of  special  spiritual  quickening  have  sometimes  followed 
immediately  upon  painful  cases  of  discipline.  No  trying 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


114 


duty  discharged  in  reliance  upon  divine  aid  ever  fails  to 
bring  a  blessing.  Kind  fidelity  in  the  several  stages  of  a 
process  suggests  vividly  the  liabilities  of  temptation,  of 
backsliding,  not  to  speak  of  utter  apostasy.  Those  engag¬ 
ing  duly  in  this  function  can  hardly  refrain  from  humbling 
themselves  before  God  and  adoring  the  grace  which  has 
kept  them  from  falling.  The  Eliot  Church  is  not  without 
illustrative  examples  in  that  line.  Every  instance  of  dis¬ 
cipline  —  whether  the  subject  thereof  was  reclaimed,  or 
was  finally  excluded  from  fellowship  —  served  to  bind  the 
brotherhood  together  in  closer  bonds  as  well  as  to  heighten 
a  conception  of  the  true  design  and  the  sacred  obligations 
of  a  church. 

The  theory  of  uniform  spiritual  advance  on  the  part 
of  an  individual  and  a  covenanted  community  is  seldom 
borne  out  by  facts.  There  may  be  no  law  of  unequal  de¬ 
velopment,  but  variations  of  temperament  as  well  as  of 
temper  are  matters  of  universal  experience.  Piety  may  be 
real,  though  depressed  and  only  latent.  Slumber  and  death 
are  different  conditions.  We  would  advocate  and  labor 
for  steady  growth ;  and  yet  not  be  surprised  at  more  or 
less  of  the  occasional  and  even  the  spasmodic.  Crises 
may  be  looked  for  in  individual  and  in  collective  life.  An 
exhibition,  too,  of  infirmities  may  be  expected.  One  and 
another  will  purpose  some  specialty,  such  perhaps  as  they 
have  read  of,  or  have  witnessed  in  another  denomination, 
or  in  the  methods  of  some  evangelist.  I  recall  an  indi¬ 
vidual,  not  commanding  deep  respect,  who  had  pretty 


CHURCH  FUNCTIONS. 


ri5 


much  ceased  to  attend  upon  stated  church  observances. 
But  in  more  than  one  instance,  after  increased  spiritual 
earnestness  had  become  general  and  meetings  were  crowded, 
he  would  come  in  of  an  evening  and  take  early  opportunity 
to  complain  of  the  low  state  of  religion  and  to  propose 
certain  special  measures  with  reference  to  a  revival.  If 
the  thing  had  been  less  painful  it  would  have  been  more 
ludicrous. 

The  seasons  referred  to  were  seasons  of  marked  moral 
earnestness.  They  were  epochs  of  special  prayer,  of  wrest¬ 
ling  importunity  in  supplication.  There  was  a  quietus  to 
bickerings  and  heart-burnings.  Formality  gave  way.  Re¬ 
ligious  sensibility  was  manifest,  a  cord  of  spiritual  sym¬ 
pathy  linking  together  an  entire  assembly  in  a  sacred 
magnetism.  Little  if  any  unhallowed  enthusiasm  showed 
itself  and  still  less  of  fanaticism.  Mental  balance  was  pre¬ 
served.  The  solemnity  was  usually  deep,  yet  radiant; 
exhaustion  did  not  follow,  but  a  refreshing  sense  of  things 
heavenly  and  divine,  an  elevating  and  restful  apprehension 
of  the  great  things  of  the  kingdom.  There  was  no  need 
of  setting  about  to  prove  the  personality  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  the  gracious  sincerity  of  Jesus  Christ  in  his  invita¬ 
tions,  or  his  ability  to  save  to  the  uttermost.  Pungent 
conviction  of  sin  and  a  penitent  discovery  of  its  just 
condemnation  silenced  quarrelling  with  God  on  account  of 
his  sovereignty  in  saving  men  and  his  righteousness  in 
punishing  forever  the  finally  impenitent. 

Several  of  our  church  members  privately  acknowl- 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


1 16 

edged  to  having  previously  entertained  only  a  false  hope 
and  to  being  now  apparently  born  again.  So,  too,  mem¬ 
bers  of  other  churches.  One  case  of  that  kind  is  very  dis¬ 
tinctly  remembered,  that  of  a  family  from  the  north  of 
Ireland,  the  husband  having  been  connected  with  the 
Episcopal  Church  .  and  the  wife  with  a  Presbyterian 
Church.  Both  became  convinced  about  the  same  time 
that  by  experience  they  had  known  nothing  of  vital  piety. 
Both  were  converted,  and  in  accordance  with  their  own 
decided  wish  joined  others  in  a  public  confession. 

The  joy  of  converts  did  not  become  effervescent  or 
boisterous ;  deep  streams  are  never  noisy.  Neighboring 
pastors  kindly  rendered  assistance  at  a  special  week-day 
evening  service ;  and  in  a  few  instances  aid  was  given  by 
them  on  Lord’s  Day.  This  accords  with  what  took  place 
among  the  earliest  fishers  of  men :  “  They  beckoned  to 
their  partners  in  the  other  ship  that  they  should  come 
and  help  them.”  No  professional  evangelist  was  called 
in ;  no  mention  was  made  of  the  anxious  seat ;  none  were 
asked  to  rise  for  prayer ;  but  ample  opportunity  was  given 
for  quiet  and  orderly  after-meetings;  or  for  other  separate 
gatherings  of  inquirers  as  well  as  for  the  special  instruc¬ 
tion  of  professed  converts.  A  good  many  new  family 
altars  were  set  up.  I  heard  of  three  such  on  one  day. 
Some  years  the  harvests  were  noteworthy,  for  example,  in 
1858  forty-five  joined  our  church  on  first  public  confes¬ 
sion  of  faith,  and  sixty-nine  in  1866.  The  accessions  were 
not  always  from  those  who  had  previously  belonged  to 


CHURCH  FUNCTIONS. 


117 


the  Eliot  congregation.  Returning  home  after  an  im¬ 
pressive  evening  service  I  found  three  young  men  in  my 
study,  one  of  them  from  a  Unitarian  family.  He  was 
deeply  wrought  upon ;  I  had  seen  no  one  so  agitated  and 
distressed.  He  told  me  that  some  of  the  young  men  in 
the  mercantile  house  where  he  was  a  clerk  requested  the 
privilege,  the  day  before,  of  holding  a  prayer  meeting  in 
the  attic  of  the  store.  Permission  was  readily  given, 
and  thirteen  assembled.  A  few  days  later  I  called  on  a 
young  lady  who  had  begun  to  worship  with  us.  I  talked 
very  freely  and  plainly  with  her  for  a  time,  when  her 
mother,  a  Unitarian  lady,  coming  in  from  a  side  room  re¬ 
marked  that  she  had  overheard  what  was  said  and  was 
glad  that  I  called,  adding  that  she  desired  her  daughter 
should  become  a  Christian ;  that  she  herself  had  prayed 
for  it  and  had  no  objection  to  her  becoming  a  Trinitarian. 
She  expressed  dissatisfaction  with  the  preaching  where 
she  usually  worshiped  as  greatly  lacking  in  spiritual 
power.  During  the  same  season  I  noticed  a  young  man, 
a  stranger,  in  one  of  the  galleries  listening  with  peculiarly 
earnest  attention.  It  appeared  that  he  was  a  Universalist 
visiting  a  friend  in  the  neighborhood.  It  was  not  long 
before  he  avowed  himself  not  only  an  evangelical  believer 
but  a  “  new  man  in  Christ.”  These  were  not  solitary 
cases  of  the  kind  and  yet  such  were  not  numerous. 

Two  classes  of  persons,  very  limited  in  number,  seemed 
to  be  least  responsive  to  revival  influences.  One  was  in¬ 
veterate  novel  readers.  To  single  out  a  specimen — hap- 


1 18 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


pily  an  extreme  instance  —  mention  may  be  made  of  a 
married  lady  who  had  been  in  the  congregation  only  a 
few  months.  Her  church  membership  was  elsewhere. 
Her  mind  had  become  drenched  with  romance,  and  hence 
enervated.  The  pathetic  would  call  forth  tears,  but  char¬ 
acter  will  always  deteriorate  when  awakened  sensibilities 
lead  to  no  practical  beneficence.  She  had  been  living, 
or  rather  flitting  about  in  an  unreal  world  where  common 
sense  was  a  stranger.  She  confessed  to  having  no  sense 
of  sin  and  was  so  unreflectingly  ignorant  as  to  ask  if  I 
thought  she  had  done  wrong  at  all,  adding  that  she  did 
not  know  it  was  necessary  for  her  to  feel  her  sinfulness, 
“  because  it  is  the  heart  and  not  she  herself  that  is  de¬ 
praved  !  ”  I  have  met  with  no  other  case  of  more  obvious 
heathenism  except  in  India. 

Instances  of  a  decidedly  morbid  condition  of  mind, 
developing  at  length  into  evident  melancholia,  if  not  un¬ 
mistakable  derangement,  were  various.  Of  the  following, 
though  not  generally  understood,  I  had  full  cognizance. 
A  man  highly  respected,  a  man  of  blameless  life,  standing 
in  his  lot,  taking  active  and  acceptable  part  in  church  ser¬ 
vices,  came  to  me  at  length  repeatedly,  saying  that  he  had 
no  evidence  of  being  a  Christian ;  that  what  he  attempted 
in  the  line  of  social  duties  was  purely  from  a  sense  of 
duty ;  that  there  was  no  elasticity  of  soul  in  him.  His 
own  language  was  such  as  this  in  part:  “Christ  always 
seems  at  a  distance ;  there  is  a  dreadful  dimness  and  an 
awful  blank  in  my  mind;  it  is  not  the  thought  of  hell 


CHURCH  FUNCTIONS. 


1  *9 


particularly  that  moves  me ;  I  cannot  feel  anything ;  the 
hardness  is  awful;  I  cannot  live  so,  I  cannot  die  so.  It 
would  be  a  fearful  thing  to  send  for  you  and  make  this 
disclosure  on  my  death-bed.”  Though  a  man  of  more 
than  usual  self-control,  he  wept  profusely.  For  a  good 
while  he  was  in  deep  waters,  depth  calling  unto  depth  in 
slowly  increasing  terror  of  despair.  No  words,  no  devices 
seemed  to  relieve  the  gloom.  What  could  the  pastor  do 
but  with  an  aching  heart  commend  the  case  to  Him  who 
alone  understands  all  the  mysterious  maladies  of  mind  ! 

Among  the  evidences  of  religious  advance  was  in¬ 
creased  fidelity  in  the  Sunday  School.  Class  prayer  meet¬ 
ings  were  held ;  teachers  and  converted  pupils  would  enter 
into  devotional  engagements  to  remember  definitely  certain 
unconverted  pupils  at  some  stated  hour.  Such  covenants 
bore  fruit.  The  ease  with  which  merely  social  gatherings 
would  take  on  a  religious  character  was  noticeable.  So, 
too,  the  heartiness  of  Christian  greetings  and  the  readi¬ 
ness  for  outside  Christian  work. 

The  year  1858  was  one  of  widespread  spiritual  bless¬ 
ing.  A  statement  was  published  in  the  Spring  of  that 
year  that  five  vessels  came  into  the  port  of  New  York  at 
different  times,  on  board  which  prayer  meetings  had  been 
established,  of  course  without  any  concert  between  the 
captains.  With  that  I  have  since  associated  a  young  man, 
then  belonging  to  our  congregation,  who  sailed  the  year 
before  for  Australia.  Returning  in  1858,  he  told  me  that 
on  approaching  the  coast  he  became  seriously  impressed, 


120 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


and  so  continued  till  he  reached  home.  He  remained 
here  less  than  two  weeks,  and  before  sailing  again  for 
Singapore  he  entertained  a  Christian  hope.  He  was  a 
child  of  the  covenant,  the  pious  father  and  mother  having 
both  deceased.  Early  in  my  pastorate,  finding  that  the 
congregation  was  made  up  chiefly  of  those  who  came  from 
Boston  or  elsewhere,  with  little  or  no  previous  mutual 
acquaintance ;  that  there  was  almost  no  local  intercourse, 
hence  but  slight  knowledge  of  one  another,  as  most  of  the 
men  went  daily  in  town  to  business,  I  began  to  despair 
regarding  the  usual  media  of  religious  influence.  If  some 
one  should  be  converted,  who  would  know  it?  How  could 
a  spark  of  spiritual  influence  be  reasonably  expected  to 
communicate  itself  to  others  ?  Soon  after  such  dispiriting 
questions  had  arisen,  I  found  in  the  course  of  the  same 
week  here  and  there  several  individuals  decidedly  awak¬ 
ened.  That  took  place  independently  of  one  another,  for 
they  were  not  acquaintances  and  had  had  no  intercommu¬ 
nication.  It  of  course  occurred  to  me  more  distinctly  than 
ever  before  that  the  dews  of  divine  grace  come  silently 
from  above  and  require  no  horizontal  channels;  that  there 
is  a  wide  difference  between  a  revival  gotten  up  and  one 
that  comes  down;  that  while  God  is  ever  ready  to  accept 
cooperation  from  many,  he  never  stands  in  need  of  human 
agency. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


ELIOT  SUNDAY  SCHOOL. 

The  Sunday  School  as  a  method  of  religious  educa¬ 
tion  is  not  so  peculiarly  a  modern  institution  as  has  been 
supposed.  More  than  a  century  before  Robert  Raikes 
employed  women  (1781)  to  teach  the  waifs  of  Gloucester 
streets,  England,  a  Sunday  School  had  been  instituted  by 
the  First  Church  in  Roxbury.  Eliot  himself  maintained 
that  “  The  care  of  the  lambs  is  one-third  part  of  the 
charge  over  the  Church  of  God.”  It  has  been  affirmed 
that  “  The  Sunday  School  of  the  West  Boston  Society  ” 
was  the  earliest  established  in  this  city.  It  was  the  off¬ 
spring  of  the  “  West  Boston  Charity  School,”  later  known 
as  the  “  West  Parish  Sewing  School.” 1  It  appears  to 
have  been  a  school  for  girls  only.  A  similar  school  for 
boys  was  established  in  1827,  and  the  two  were  united  in 
1832. 

But  Mrs.  Susan  E.  Parker,  sister  of  the  late  Dr.  S.  F. 
Smith  —  now  aged  ninety-five  —  stated  before  her  memory 
failed  in  the  least,  if  it  has  yet  failed,  that  on  June  14, 
1815,  a  Sabbath  School  was  gathered  at  Christ  Church,, 
the  historical  Old  North  Church.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Asa 
Eaton  was  then  rector.  A  house-to-house  visitation  had 
been  made,  and  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  scholars  were 


1  The  West  Church  and  its  Ministers.  Boston,  1856,  pp.  217,  218. 


122 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


enrolled.  A  list  still  remains  hanging  in  the  room  where 
the  school  was  organized  in  1817.  It  was  a  strictly  mis¬ 
sion  school,  the  children  of  Christian  households  not 
being  admitted.  For  that  reason  Mrs.  Parker  herself 
could  not  become  a  member.  The  first  superintendent, 
Mr.  Joseph  W.  Ingraham,  continued  in  that  office  for 
twenty-five  years.1 

When  schools,  especially  those  of  a  missionary  char¬ 
acter,  came  to  be  established  in  Boston  during  the  first 
half  of  the  nineteenth  century  they  did  not  enlist  general 
favor  at  first.  It  was  in  the  midst  of  the  Unitarian 
discussion  and  the  running  of  denominational  lines. 
That  in  School  Street  was  one.  It  was  first  opened  in 
an  old  public  schoolhouse  at  the  lower  end  of  Bedford 
Street.  William  Thurston,  Esq.,  a  prominent  lawyer,  made 
statements  to  a  few  friends  who  had  come  together,  re¬ 
garding  the  success  of  Sabbath  Schools  in  England.  Fami¬ 
lies  in  the  neighborhood  were  visited  with  a  view  to  finding 
whether  scholars  could  be  obtained.  A  goodly  number 
were  at  once  secured.  Other  public  schoolhouses  were 
opened  for  the  same  purpose.  The  Mayor  sent  to  Mr. 
John  Gulliver  —  an  active  man  in  the  Orthodox  ranks  — 
and  frankly  admitted  that  there  was  a  desire  to  exclude 
the  schools  from  city  buildings.  Not  long  after,  Mr.  Gul¬ 
liver  found  the  front  door  of  the  schoolhouse  one  Sunday 
morning  could  not  be  opened.  Entrance  was  effected 

1  The  Sunday  School  Times ,  July  4,  1896.  Memories  of  Boston’s  First 
Sunday  School.  By  Harriette  Knight  Smith. 


ELIOT  SUNDAY  SCHOOL. 


I23 


through  a  window,  and  half  a  cord  of  wood  was  found 
piled  against  the  door.  That  being  removed,  the  Sunday 
School  went  on  as  usual.  A  public  meeting  was  called, 
that  by  a  vote  the  schools  might  be  excluded.  Mr.  Thurs¬ 
ton  and  other  gentlemen  made  addresses  so  effectively  in 
favor  of  the  religious  movement  that  a  large  majority 
favored  granting  the  use  of  as  many  of  the  schoolhouses 
as  were  needed.  Our  Eliot  Sunday  School  was  organized 
on  the  third  Sunday  of  July,  1834,  nearly  two  months  be¬ 
fore  the  formation  of  the  church.  Forty-one  persons  met 
in  the  stone  building  near  our  present  place  of  worship, 
twenty-five  of  whom  were  enrolled  as  scholars,  fifteen  as 
teachers,  Mr.  Alvah  Kittredge  being  chosen  superintend¬ 
ent.  There  was  a  twin-birth  that  Sunday  morning.  Mr. 
Kittredge  saw  for  the  first  time  his  youngest  son  —  now 
Rev.  Dr.  Abbot  Eliot  Kittredge  of  New  York  —  and  then 
hastened  to  join  the  company  where  this  school  was 
organized.  After  something  more  than  a  year,  the  meet¬ 
ing-house  being  finished,  the  school  removed  to  the  lecture 
room  underneath,  the  average  attendance  of  pupils  having 
been  about  forty.  After  twenty-five  years  it  was  found 
that  the  attendance  had  come  to  be  not  far  from  two 
hundred.  Mr.  Kittredge  continued  most  faithfully  and 
acceptably  in  office  as  head  of  the  school  for  a  quarter  of 
a  century,  when  he  resigned  and  took  the  place  of  a  teacher. 
Upon  a  review  at  the  time  of  his  resigning,  it  was  found 
that  seven  teachers  and  forty-three  pupils  had  been  re¬ 
moved  by  death. 


124 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


Of  those  who  had  been  scholars  thirty-one  became 
college  graduates,  and  at  the  date  now  in  mind  (1859) 
seven  had  become  pastors  of  churches,  four  others  were 
preachers,  and  one  was  an  accepted  missionary  of  the 
American  Board.  Twelve  ministers  of  the  gospel  came 
out  of  the  school  before  its  silver  anniversary,  and  an 
equal  number  of  female  pupils  became  the  wives  of  clergy¬ 
men.  During  the  period  now  spoken  of  two  thousand 
one  hundred  and  twenty  scholars  had  been  registered,  a 
large  proportion  of  whom  (1700)  had  left  and  were  scat¬ 
tered  widely  through  the  country,  besides  quite  a  number 
in  foreign  lands.  Of  that  dispersion  more  than  half  were 
professing  Christians.  The  family  and  the  sanctuary  usu¬ 
ally  furnish  concurrent  influences  that  issue  at  length  in 
conversion,  but  it  should  be  stated  with  devout  gratitude 
that  during  our  first  twenty-five  years  the  church  wel¬ 
comed  to  its  communion  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty 
from  this  school,  while  many  who  dated  the  commence¬ 
ment  of  their  spiritual  life  here  made  public  profession 
after  removing  elsewhere. 

I  was  in  the  habit  of  visiting  this  as  well  as  our 
Mission  School  often  —  upon  an  average,  three  times  a 
month  —  and  of  sitting  down  with  classes  successively, 
asking  questions  or  remarking  on  the  lesson  of  the  day. 
Acquaintance  with  names,  faces  and  habits  was  thus 
secured.  I  feared  at  first  this  would  prove  an  undesirable 
interruption  and  possibly  an  annoyance,  but  teachers  soon 
began  to  request  such  visits.  There  was  opportunity  also 


ELIOT  SUNDAY  SCHOOL. 


I25 


for  observing  aptitude,  or  a  want  of  it,  on  the  part  of 
teachers.  As  a  general  thing,  they  were  devoted  and  suc¬ 
cessful.  I  learned  highly  to  value  those  unpaid  colleagues 
in  the  sphere  of  religious  training.  One  or  two  sad  ex¬ 
ceptions  came  under  my  eye  —  for  instance,  a  man  in 
charge  of  a  class  of  young  men,  who  was  soon  through 
with  what  appeared  to  be  a  perfunctory  exercise.  New 
members  were  brought  in  but  presently  left.  They  found 
nothing  to  interest  them.  Another  teacher  by  tardiness 
ran  out  a  class.  From  time  to  time  I  gave  small  blank 
books  to  teachers,  returnable  to  me  with  private  memo¬ 
randa  regarding  individual  pupils. 

A  visitor  will  light  upon  oddities.  During  an  exer¬ 
cise  on  the  transfiguration  a  class  of  girls  were  asked,  How 
Moses  and  Elijah  could  have  been  recognized?  A  bright 
Miss  replied  that  she  supposed  the  disciples  had  seen 
their  photographs.  An  ignorant  young  man  who  had 
never  before  attended  a  Sunday  School,  or  been  in  the 
habit  of  reading  the  Bible,  joined  our  Bible  Class  and 
professed  to  become  at  once  interested  in  the  subject  of 
personal  religion.  Within  a  fortnight  after  that  he  came 
to  me,  saying  that  he  had  examined  the  matter  of  baptism 
and  found  that  immersion  was  the  only  proper  method. 

Familiarity  with  the  Sunday  School  reveals  acquaint¬ 
ance  with  families  represented  there,  and  is  specially  help¬ 
ful  in  pastoral  visits.  Innumerable  interesting  incidents 
came  to  light.  One  must  suffice  here.  A  mother  died, 
leaving  three  children,  the  eldest  a  lad  of  ten  years.  The 


126 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


father  soon  began  family  worship,  but  was  often  absent 
from  home,  being  the  traveling  member  of  a  Boston  firm. 
During  the  father’s  absence  this  little  boy,  a  member  of 
the  school,  asked  if  he  might  keep  up  family  worship. 
He  read  a  chapter  from  the  Bible  regularly,  then  kneeled 
down,  a  younger  sister  each  side  of  him,  and  offered  ex¬ 
temporaneous  prayer,  closing  with  the  Lord’s  Prayer,  in 
which  the  sisters  joined.  Both  grandmothers,  each  about 
sixty  years  of  age,  were  present  morning  and  evening. 

Now  and  then  I  preached  to  the  two  schools  gath¬ 
ered  with  others  into  our  place  of  worship,  which  was 
crowded.  I  usually  attended  the  teachers’  meetings. 
When  absent  from  the  country  I  sometimes  wrote  let¬ 
ters  to  the  school,  and  on  returning  from  a  visit  to  Pales¬ 
tine,  brought  pressed  flowers  from  Jerusalem  and  the  neigh¬ 
borhood,  mounted  on  cardboard,  one  for  each  of  the 
scholars  in  our  two  schools ;  a  larger  one  for  the  teachers, 
and  one  yet  larger  for  each  superintendent. 

There  was  gradually  disclosed  a  tendency  to  adminis¬ 
ter  the  school  with  reference  to  the  Monthly  Concert, 
rehearsals  and  other  preparations  occupying  a  dispropor¬ 
tionate  amount  of  time  that  was  needed  for  more  im¬ 
portant  purposes.  There  was  an  excessive  demand  for 
entertainment,  and  the  concert  was  liable  to  become  a  mere 
exhibition.  After  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  working 
and  spirit  of  our  school  had  been  established,  it  seemed 
to  me  to  be  regarded  too  much  as  an  independent  and 
outside  affair,  instead  of  an  integral  element  of  the  church 


ELIOT  SUNDAY  SCHOOL. 


127 


and  one  form  of  church  education.  Hence  I  proposed 
certain  regulations  which  have  since  been  observed,  two 
of  which  are  as  follows :  — 

“  The  appointment  of  the  Superintendent  shall  be  by 
nomination  on  the  part  of  the  teachers,  and  ratification  on 
the  part  of  the  church  by  yea  and  nay  ballot ;  the  remain¬ 
ing  officers  being  elected  by  the  teachers.” 

“  The  Superintendent  shall  make  a  report  annually  to 
the  church  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  same,  on  the 
condition  and  statistics  of  the  school,  embracing  a  list  of 
its  teachers.” 

Another  practical  misapprehension  was  that  it  is 
merely  a  school  for  children  instead  of  being  a  Bible 
Seminary  designed  for  all  ages,  including  adults  as  well. 
These  were  urged  to  join  the  school,  and  two  classes  of 
such  were  formed  with  twelve  or  fourteen  members  in 
each.  Cases  occurred  in  which  whole  families  were  in 
attendance.  Much  thought  was  given  to  the  library.  Pains¬ 
taking  is  also  needed  to  keep  distinctly  before  the  minds, 
especially  of  the  young,  that  our  sacred  volume  is  the  sub¬ 
ject  of  study.  One  incident  will  illustrate.  Being  absent 
from  home  on  an  exchange  of  pulpits,  I  asked  a  little 
girl,  “  Do  you  attend  the  Sunday  School  ?  ”  “  Oh,  yes,” 

she  replied.  “  And  what  are  you  studying  ?  ”  “  The 

Question-Book.”  “  But  it  is  a  question-book  on  the  Bible, 
I  suppose.”  “No,”  said  she.  “What  then  is  it?”  “The 
Union  Question-Book.”  “And  does  it  not  ask  questions 
about  some  part  of  the  Bible  ?  ”  “  No ;  the  lessons  are  all 


128 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


in  the  book ;  we  don’t  study  the  Bible.”  I  had  met  with 
substantially  the  same  thing  elsewhere.  Constant  famili¬ 
arity  with  the  collective  contents  and  with  the  order  of 
the  several  books  should  be  cultivated. 

A  very  deep  and  very  just  reverence  for  the  sacred 
scriptures  was  entertained  by  teachers  and  scholars.  The 
natural  results  were  manifest  in  character  and  life.  Tes¬ 
timonials  given,  for  instance,  in  1859  by  those  who  had 
entered  the  ministry,  appeared  to  express  the  prevailing 
sentiment.  One  wrote  from  the  state  of  Maine,  “  I  can 
only  say,  I  bless  God  that  I  ever  became  a  member  of 
your  Sabbath  School  and  congregation.”  One  from  west¬ 
ern  Massachusetts,  “  That  vestry  will  always  be  hallowed 
ground  to  me.”  Another,  “  I  know  of  no  place  about 
which  so  many  delightful  and  sacred  associations  cluster 
as  at  that  vestry,  underground  though  it  is.”  “  The  gold 
and  the  silver  of  Ophir,  and  the  cattle  upon  a  thousand 
hills,”  wrote  still  another,  “  cannot  pay  the  debt  we  owe.” 

It  was  a  specially  gratifying  circumstance  that  of 
those  who  had  been  connected  with  the  school  for  a 
longer  or  shorter  time,  one,  a  true  daughter  of  John  Eliot, 
Miss  Harriet  J.  Clark,  now  Mrs.  Caswell,  labored  among 
the  Seneca  Indians  in  southwestern  New  York;  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Hurter  spent  several  years  in  Syria  under  the  shadow 
of  Mt.  Lebanon  ;  while  two  daughters  of  missionaries,  Mary 
Ballantine  of  Ahmednagar,  India,  and  Maria  Chamberlain 
from  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  returned  to  their  native  lands, 
the  one  as  Mrs.  Fairbank,  the  other  as  Mrs.  Forbes,  and 


ELIOT  SUNDAY  SCHOOL. 


129 


did  excellent  service.  With  the  latter  name  should  also 
be  coupled  that  of  Mary  Carpenter  Paris.  These,  as  well 
as  the  memorable  name  of  Rev.  David  Coit  Scudder,  will 
be  found  among  the  sketches  of  missionaries. 

Amidst  all  the  changes  of  superintendents  and  teach¬ 
ers,  the  school  has  maintained  a  good  degree  of  harmony 
and  a  fair  amount  of  enthusiasm.  This  appeared  to  be 
noticeably  true  when  our  congregation  was  so  depleted  in 
1870  by  the  withdrawment  of  a  large  body  to  form  a  new 
church  and  Sunday  School.  Unusual  vitality  and  enter¬ 
prise  remained.  Even  the  first  Sabbath  after  that  exodus 
the  attendance  showed  a  higher  figure  than  for  some  time 
before.  After  four  weeks  I  found  there  had  been  an 
accession  of  sixty  members.  The  Young  Men’s  Bible 
Class  of  twenty-five,  whose  former  teacher  had  gone  with¬ 
out  the  slightest  hint  to  them  of  his  purpose  to  leave, 
continued  undiminished,  though  for  a  time  no  one  was 
found  to  lead  them.  There  seemed  to  be  on  their  part  a 
measure  of  sanctified  spunk. 

Many  funerals  of  pupils  have  been  attended.  A  few 
of  them  were  oppressively  sad.  Such,  for  example,  were 
those  of  the  four  lads  who  lost  their  life  by  drowning; 
and  that  of  another,  Benjamin  Bronner  (1857),  suddenly 
crushed  by  inexorable  machinery.  The  funeral  solemni¬ 
ties  of  one  who  had  been  a  scholar  followed  soon  after 
the  festivities  of  marriage.  In  another  case  I  had  occa¬ 
sion  to  go  directly  from  the  funeral  of  a  beloved  pupil 1  to 


1  Harriet  M.  Holman,  1857. 


130 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


the  marriage  of  her  Sunday  School  teacher.  On  most  of 
these  services  cheering  light  from  above  shone  benignly 
and  expelled  sadness.  One  of  them,  a  specimen,  rises  dis¬ 
tinctly  to  recollection,  the  funeral  of  a  young  woman,1 
beautifully  patient  in  sickness,  gentle  and  cheerful.  The 
epistle  to  the  Romans,  which  had  been  studied  in  the 
Bible  Class,  was  peculiarly  precious  to  her.  Regarding 
recovery  or  removal  she  could  say,  “  I  have  no  choice ;  ” 
and  amidst  final  paroxysms  of  pain  she  cried,  “  Oh, 
Mother!  Oh,  Saviour!” 

Two  of  the  superintendents  died  while  in  office.2 

The  statistics  of  the  school  for  the  quarter  of  a  cen¬ 
tury  from  1842  to  1867  show  that  considerably  over  three 
thousand  pupils  had  been  members,  of  whom  two  hundred 
were  received  to  the  Eliot  Church  on  profession  of  faith. 
During  that  period  one  hundred  and  seventy-one  minors 


1  Eliza  Hill  Anderson,  1849. 


Alvah  Kittredge  .  . 

Samuel  W.  Hall  .  . 

Sylvester  Bliss  .  . 

Charles  F.  Bray  .  . 

Thomas  Chamberlain 
William  H.  Brackett 
Edward  A.  Lawrence 
James  Goodman  .  . 

Charles  W.  Hill  .  . 

Horace  G.  Wellington 
Frederick  C.  Russell 
Charles  W.  Hill  .  . 

Clarence  T.  Mooar  . 


2  SUPERINTENDENTS. 
Elected. 

July,  1834. 
July,  1859. 
July,  i860. 
April  1,  1863. 
April  16,  1865. 
Sept.  11,  1865. 
Dec.  10,  1866. 
Dec.  20,  1867. 
Sept.  30,  1870. 
Dec.  31,  1884. 
Dec.  28,  1887. 
Dec.  30,  1891. 
Dec.  15,  1896. 


Resigned. 
July,  1859. 
July,  i860. 
Died  March  6,  1863. 
July,  1865. 
Sept.,  1865. 
Dec.,  1866. 
Dec.  20,  1867. 
Sept.  30,  1870. 
Dec.  31,  1884. 
Dec.  28,  1887. 
Dec.  30,  1891. 
Died  Nov.  13, 1896. 


ELIOT  SUNDAY  SCHOOL. 


J3r 


were  so  received,  forty-eight  of  whom  were  fifteen  years  of 
age  or  under;  and  seven  were  twelve  years  old  or  under. 
When  the  anniversary  of  July,  1867,  came  round,  there 
were  three  hundred  and  sixty-six  pupils  remaining,  while 
three  regiments,  each  one  thousand  strong,  had  been  mus¬ 
tered  out  of  the  Sunday  School  army,  a  part  of  whom 
were  scattered  all  over  the  land.  Several  were  in  the 
Valley  of  the  Mississippi,  some  on  the  Pacific  coast,  and  a 
few  in  Australia,  India,  China,  and  other  countries.  All 
of  them  were  probably  better  themselves  and  exerted  a 
better  influence  upon  others  for  having  studied  the  Bible 
here.  Perhaps  all  of  them  could  join  John  Eliot  in  his 
testimony,  “  I  do  see  that  it  was  a  great  favor  unto  me  to 
season  my  first  years  with  fear  of  God,  the  Word,  and 
prayer.” 


CHAPTER  X. 


VARIOUS  DEVOTIONAL  MEETINGS 
/.  Maternal  Meeting. 

Two  years  after  the  church  was  organized  some  of 
the  mothers  united  in  a  Maternal  Association.  The  pre¬ 
liminary  declaration  opens  as  follows :  “  Impressed  with  a 
sense  of  our  dependence  upon  the  Holy  Spirit  to  aid  us 
in  training  up  our  children  in  the  way  they  should  go, 
and  hoping  to  obtain  the  blessing  of  such  as  fear  the 
Lord  and  speak  often  one  to  another,  We,”  etc.  Three  of 
the  Ten  Articles  disclose  the  chief  aim  and  chief  duties 
of  members.  “  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  every  member  to 
qualify  herself  by  daily  reading,  prayer  and  self-discipline 
to  discharge  faithfully  the  arduous  duties  of  a  Christian 
mother,”  etc. ;  “  Each  member  shall  consider  herself  obli¬ 
gated  by  her  covenant  engagements  to  pray  for  her  chil¬ 
dren  daily  and  with  them  as  often  as  circumstances  may 
permit,  and  conscientiously  to  restrain  them  from  such 
courses  as  would  naturally  add  to  vanity,  pride,  and  worldly- 
mindedness  ;  ”  “  When  a  mother  is  removed  by  death,  it 
shall  be  the  special  duty  of  the  Association  to  regard 
with  peculiar  interest  the  spiritual  welfare  of  her  children, 
and  to  show  their  interest  by  a  continued  remembrance 
of  them  in  their  prayers  and  by  such  tokens  of  sympathy 
and  kindness  as  their  circumstances  shall  require.” 


VARIOUS  DEVOTIONAL  MEETINGS. 


*33 


My  acquaintance  with  this  association  began  fifty- 
eight  years  ago  in  the  month  of  my  ordination.  It  was 
the  Quarterly  Meeting,  July,  1842.  From  that  time  on¬ 
ward  I  was  uniformly  present,  and  with  great  enjoyment, 
at  the  Quarterly  Meeting.  That  was  the  children’s  meet¬ 
ing,  and  there  would  be  an  attendance  all  told  of  fifty  or 
more.  It  was  choice  music  to  my  ear  to  hear  the  little 
folks  repeat  hymns  and  passages  of  scripture.  In  one  in¬ 
stance  twelve  different  Psalms  were  recited,  besides  one  or 
more  other  chapters  and  numerous  single  verses.  At  one 
period  a  simple  catechism  which  I  had  prepared,  The 
Lambs  Fed,1  was  employed,  though  not  at  my  suggestion. 

Sometimes  a  shadow  fell  upon  the  meeting,  as  when, 
fifty-three  years  since,  all  thought  centered  on  the  drown¬ 
ing  of  one  of  the  dear  boys,  and  at  another  when  the 
remark  was  made  that  I  had  already  that  week  attended 
the  funerals  of  three  little  ones.  At  other  times  sacred 
joy  abounded,  as  after  an  unusual  number  had  been  wel¬ 
comed  to  the  church,  twenty  of  them  being  from  families 
represented  in  this  association.  Eleven  of  those  who  were 
once  in  attendance  entered  the  Christian  ministry,  and  the 
same  number  became  ministers’  wives,  as  was  stated  re¬ 
garding  the  Eliot  Sunday  School. 

Those  whose  memory  goes  back  many  years  speak 

1  First  published  by  Benjamin  Perkins  about  1844  or  1845.  Afterwards 
issued  by  the  Massachusetts  Sunday  School  Society  (1859),  with  the  title, 
Biblical  Catechism  for  Sabbath  Schools.  Two  different  translations  into 
Marathi  were  made,  and  it  has  been  used  somewhat  widely  in  the  Bombay 
Presidency. 


*3  4 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


or  write  in  a  way  that  shows  the  meetings  were  a  bene¬ 
diction  to  them.  Mention  is  made  of  having  preserved 
the  cards,  leaflets  and  booklets  that  were  given  to  the 
children.  “  I  well  remember,”  writes  one,  “  the  beautiful 
face  of  Mrs.  Anderson,  the  president,  as  she  moved  her 
chair  about  the  room  so  as  to  be  near  each  child  who  was 
reciting.”  “  At  the  last  meeting  I  attended,  being  a  tall 
High  School  boy,  Dr.  Thompson  said,  ‘You  will  not  be 
too  old  to  come  to  the  maternal  meeting  when  you  are 
twenty-one.’  ” 

Mothers  derived  great  benefit  from  their  associated 
counsels  and  prayers.  Some  of  them  still  living  have 
written  thus :  “  I  have  memories  of  that  organization  which 
are  very  sweet  and  precious  to  me.”  Another  who  is 
eighty-eight  sends  word  that  she  “  remembers  the  meet¬ 
ing  with  great  delight,  and  has  had  many  a  blessed  sea¬ 
son  of  prayer  with  the  mothers  and  their  children.”  The 
mother  of  Samuel  was  often  in  their  thoughts.  Hers 
was  no  temporary  arrangement.  “As  long  as  he  liveth,  he 
shall  be  lent  to  the  Lord.”  He  did  not  belong  so  much 
to  her  as  to  the  Lord;  he  was  not  given  to  be  a  mother’s 
pet.  Only  those  mothers  who,  Hannah-like,  give  their 
children  to  the  Lord  for  their  whole  life  have  a  right  to 
expect  a  blessing.  The  following  recorded  resolution  of  a 
devout  woman  caught  my  eye,  “  Everything  that  will  make 
me  a  better  mother  I  covet,  and  so  far  as  I  can  I  will  pro¬ 
cure.”  What  now  will  make  better  mothers?  First,  let 
them  give  themselves  heartily  and  wholly  to  the  God  of 


VARIOUS  DEVOTIONAL  MEETINGS. 


13  5 


Hannah.  Failing  in  that,  they  will  fail  to  be  complete, 
first-rate  mothers.  Their  children  must  be  lent  to  the 
Lord.  If  his  right  in  them  be  not  acknowledged,  his 
blessing  on  them  cannot  reasonably  be  expected.  Unfail¬ 
ing  intercession  on  their  behalf  must  follow.  The  more 
Hannahs  there  are  the  more  Samuels  will  there  be.  All 
history  shows  that  mothers  who  have  coveted  earnestly 
the  best  gifts  have  been  chief  benefactors  to  their  families, 
and  through  their  children  benefactors  to  the  community. 

Most  memorable  amidst  the  agonies  of  Calvary  was 
that  utterance,  “  Behold  thy  mother !  ”  It  is  not  to 
heathen  or  Mohammedan  lands  that  we  turn  to  find  the 
typical  mother.  A  housekeeper,  a  nurse,  a  governess  may 
be  hired,  but  not  a  mother.  No  place  is  there  in  this 
world  like  her  heart.  It  is  the  charm  of  her  affection 
and  her  assiduities  that  makes  home  —  a  word  not  found 
in  Oriental  languages,  for  the  idea  does  not  exist  there. 
A  pure  moral  element  is  needful.  There  is  no  family 
among  animals  and  no  home  amidst  human  herding.  To 
manage  children  wisely  is  as  difficult  as  for  the  statesman 
to  manage  men  wisely.  The  same  firmness,  the  same  dis¬ 
criminating,  patient  sagacity  and  far-reaching  aims  are 
required.  Graduates  from  the  fireside  seminary  show  in¬ 
evitably  what  their  training  has  been.  The  noble  char¬ 
acter  of  the  Father  of  his  country  was  due  to  “  Mary  the 
Mother  of  Washington.”  When  General  Harrison  was 
on  his  way  to  the  Capital  to  take  oath  as  President  of 
the  United  States,  he  visited  the  home  of  his  infancy  in 


136 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


Virginia.  Passing  from  room  to  room,  he  came  to  a  re¬ 
tired  bed-chamber,  where  he  burst  into  tears  and  said  to 
a  friend,  “  This  is  the  spot  where  my  mother  used  to  pray 
for  me.”  Abraham  Lincoln  said,  “  All  that  I  am  or  hope 
to  be  I  owe  to  my  mother.”  At  the  inauguration  of  Presi¬ 
dent  Garfield  was  there  anything  so  significant  or  so  beau¬ 
tiful  as,  after  taking  oath  of  office,  he  turned  on  the  plat¬ 
form  to  kiss  his  venerable  Christian  mother  ?  They  that 
prayerfully  rock  the  cradle  rule  the  world  and  help  to 
people  heaven. 

2.  Female  Prayer  Meeting . 

It  was  not  long  after  the  organization  of  the  Church 
that  some  of  the  good  women  were  moved  to  institute  a 
mid-week  gathering  for  devotional  purposes.  This  was  the 
more  natural  since  the  element  represented  in  our  con¬ 
gregation  was  then,  as  has  been  remarked,  chiefly  a  trans¬ 
planted  population,  and  by  day  the  women  were  almost 
the  sole  residents  here.  The  men  were  chiefly  at  their 
places  of  business  in  Boston. 

The  attendance  upon  this  Wednesday  afternoon  meet¬ 
ing  was  sometimes  twenty,  thirty,  or  forty,  though  the 
average  fell  perhaps  to  ten.  In  seasons  of  special  religious 
interest,  particularly  in  1857  and  onward,  several  neighbor¬ 
hood  gatherings  would  be  established,  and  would  more  or 
less  frequently  unite  at  some  central  point,  with  an  attend¬ 
ance  of  three-score  or  four-score.  It  was  a  good  many 
years  before  the  meetings  were  held  elsewhere  than  at 


VARIOUS  DEVOTIONAL  MEETINGS. 


*37 


private  houses.  But  they  have  all  along  been  an  expo¬ 
nent  of  the  life  of  the  Church  and  one  obvious  ministrant 
to  that  life.  Much  of  excellence  as  there  has  been  among 
the  brethren,  the  readiness  of  our  sisterhood  for  every 
good  word  and  work  has  been  yet  more  marked.  But  for 
them  the  fraternity  would  have  had  a  character  noticeably 
different.  Unity  of  aim  in  the  meeting  became  impaired 
somewhat  when  the  Maternal  Association,  the  cause  of 
Foreign  Missions  and  of  Home  Missions,  came  to  occupy 
each  respectively  one  afternoon  every  month. 


j.  Other  Prayer  Meetings. 

There  were  other  gatherings  for  devotional  purposes, 
weekly  or  less  frequent,  such  as  that  of  Young  Men  and 
another  of  Young  Women.  The  former  was  established 
chiefly  through  the  agency  of  Mr.  Henry  Martyn  Hill,  a 
young  man  of  unfailing  punctuality  in  attendance  on  the 
Church  meeting  as  well.  The  latter  of  the  two  assemblages 
was  begun  in  January,  1848.  It  had  a  variable,  yet  on  the 
whole  gratifying  attendance,  forty  being  sometimes  present. 
At  one  time  the  children  came  together  for  the  same  pur¬ 
pose,  though  not  at  my  instance.  I  wrote  a  letter  to  them 
for  each  of  the  meetings.  Those  of  a  tender  age  should 
never  be  encouraged  to  meet  entirely  by  themselves.  The 
presence  of  a  wise  and  tactful  matron  is  always  important. 

The  Monthly  Concert  of  Prayer  for  Missions  was  a 
favorite  meeting  and  well  attended.  Careful  preparation 


138 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


relating  to  some  field  of  the  American  Board  was  occa¬ 
sionally  made  by  some  member  of  the  church.  For  many 
years  Dr.  R.  Anderson  often  took  the  laboring  oar,  and  of 
course  gave  special  interest  to  the  occasion. 

There  were  times  when  I  called  a  prayer  meeting  at 
my  house  once  a  week.  A  different  set  of  brethren  or  of 
families  were  invited  to  successive  gatherings.  In  the  free¬ 
dom  of  a  private  parlor  one  and  another  were  led  to  take 
active  part,  and  thus  be  prepared  for  larger  social  occasions. 
There  was  also  opportunity  for  more  intimate  personal 
acquaintance,  and  for  cultivating  neighborly  religious  in¬ 
tercourse. 

Of  the  annual  gatherings  no  one  was  more  fully  ap¬ 
preciated  than  that  of  prayer  for  colleges.  Two  sessions 
were  held,  one  in  the  afternoon,  fairly  well  sustained,  the 
other  in  the  evening,  sometimes  with  a  crowded  attend¬ 
ance.  Those  were  literally  prayer  meetings.  Exhortation 
and  narrative  did  not  have  an  absorbing  place.  When 
the  annual  Week  of  Prayer  became  an  observance,  one  or 
two  sessions  were  held  on  each  secular  day,  with  an  aver¬ 
age  presence  of  about  one  hundred.  The  selection  and 
arrangement  of  topics  issued  by  the  Evangelical  Alliance 
never  seemed  to  me  satisfactory.  The  same  was  true  in 
a  measure  of  similar  issues  from  other  sources  when  at 
length  such  began  to  appear.  One  uniform  fault  in  the 
lists  sent  out  from  London  was  that  the  topics  were  not 
sufficiently  specific.  Another  fault  was  the  assignment  of 
missions,  that  highly  important  subject,  to  a  day  or  even- 


VARIOUS  DEVOTIONAL  MEETINGS. 


I39 


ing  least  favorable  for  attendance.  I  was  in  the  habit  of 
preparing  lists  of  topics  with  subdivisions  and  accom¬ 
panying  passages  of  Scripture  expressly  for  the  Eliot 
Church.  These  were  printed  as  leaflets  and  seasonably 
distributed.  It  was  my  practice  on  the  Sabbath  which 
opened  the  week  to  preach  upon  some  subject  specially 
appropriate  to  the  services  contemplated,  such  as  the 
province  of  prayer,  the  Holy  Spirit’s  offices,  the  claims  of 
Christ’s  kingdom.  The  week  never  passed  without  a 
manifest  blessing  during  its  progress  and  thence  onward. 
It  sometimes  seemed  to  impart  a  spiritual  impulse  and 
tone  to  the  Church,  which  were  perceptible  throughout 
the  remainder  of  the  twelvemonth. 

During  the  period  now  under  review  the  Eliot  Church 
may  safely  be  called  a  praying  church.  There  was  usu¬ 
ally  a  cheerful  response  to  notices  of  stated  or  occasional 
appointments  for  supplication  and  praise. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

VARIOUS  ASSOCIATIONS. 
i.  Dorcas  Society. 

Early  in  the  history  of  the  church  thoughts  turned  to 
the  surrounding  community.  “As  bad  as  a  Roxburyboy” 
is  said  to  have  been  a  proverb  in  neighboring  towns. 
There  certainly  was  a  rude  element  which  threw  stones 
at  our  people  when  they  were  on  the  way  to  and  from 
evening  meetings.  This  was  one  thing  which  called  atten¬ 
tion  to  the  outside  community.  Needy  and  deserving  indi¬ 
viduals  were  found,  and  in  1840  a  Dorcas  Society  was 
formed,  the  sick  and  destitute  being  in  mind  as  specially 
entitled  to  aid.  An  admission  fee  and  donations  supplied 
material  for  the  ladies’  busy  needles  once  a  month  in  the 
afternoon.  Gentlemen  were  invited  to  a  plain  collation  at 
evening.  This  gave  opportunity  for  social  intercourse. 
After  some  years  the  gathering  began  to  be  held  in  the 
lecture  room  and  has  continued  in  the  chapel.  There  is 
more  freedom  felt  in  attendance  there ;  and  such  an  oppor¬ 
tunity  for  all  to  engage  in  pleasant  intercourse  on  the  same 
footing  is  of  great  importance.  It  is  a  most  helpful  bond 
of  unity.  The  attendance  ranged  from  fifty  to  one  hundred 
and  fifty. 

At  the  eight  regular  meetings  annually  between  one 
and  two  hundred  garments  were  made.  The  existence  of 


VARIOUS  ASSOCIATIONS. 


141 


neighboring  need  was  thus  brought  distinctly  and  regularly 
to  mind,  with  a  silent  appeal  for  aid.  Many  a  cup  of  cold 
water  was  thus  ministered.  No  one  was  importuned  for 
a  contribution.  A  habit  of  active  sympathy  is  thus  likely 
to  be  established,  a  habit  of  no  small  value.  It  serves  as  a 
mental  tonic ;  it  is  an  excellent  way  of  getting  rid  of  ennui. 
It  will  be  found  there  is  a  luxury  in  doing  good,  and  one 
will  often  find  too  that  the  more  he  gives  the  more  he  has. 
An  Arabic  proverb  says,  “  The  water  you  pour  on  the  roots 
of  the  cocoanut  tree  comes  back  to  you  from  the  top  in  the 
sweet  milk  of  the  cocoanut.”  These  lower  considerations 
and  results  may  have  to  do  incipiently  with  cherishing  the 
highest  motives  and  the  broadest  beneficence.  Everybody 
must  have  noticed  that  public-spiritedness,  like  charity,  its 
cousin-german,  begins  at  home  but  grows  by  exercise.  The 
anatomist  tells  us  that  the  muscle  by  which  we  close  the 
hand  is  much  stronger  than  that  by  which  we  open  it.  It 
is  something  to  learn  through  observation  at  least  the 
wretchedness  of  being  selfish. 

“  That  man  may  last  but  never  lives, 

Who  much  receives  and  nothing  gives ; 

Whom  none  can  love,  whom  none  can  thank, 

Creation’s  blot,  creation’s  blank.” 


2.  Eliot  City  Missionary  Society. 

Soon  after  my  ordination  I  went  to  an  elevated  point  in 
the  place  to  get  the  lay  of  the  land,  geographical  and  ecclesi- 


142 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


astical.  One  question  in  mind  was,  What  neighboring 
churches  are  there  of  the  same  faith  and  order  as  the  Eliot 
Church  ?  Bostonward,  the  nearest  was  Pine  Street,  Austin 
Phelps,  pastor;  in  Dorchester,  the  Second  Church,  over 
which  Dr.  Codman  presided;  at  West  Roxbury,  Spring 
Street,  with  the  Rev.  Christopher  Marsh  pastor ;  and  Brigh¬ 
ton,  with  the  Rev.  John  T.  Adams  pastor.  The  Eliot  parish 
was  conterminous  with  these,  and  its  extreme  boundaries 
were  certainly  wide  apart.  The  absence  of  meeting-house 
spires  on  the  area  surveyed  was  noticeable.  Our  own  place 
of  worship  originally  and  that  of  the  Dudley  Street  Baptist 
Church  had  none. 

Under  the  eye  was  a  large  and  growing  population, 
a  part  of  which  had  no  ecclesiastical  home.  The  most 
densely  peopled  district  of  that  kind  seemed  to  be  at  the 
Point  and  in  the  region  of  the  lead  works.  The  thought 
of  a  Sunday  School  in  that  neighborhood  arose  and,  as 
opportunity  offered,  I  began  to  make  inquiries  and  sugges¬ 
tions  regarding  such  an  enterprise.  Enthusiasm  did  not 
kindle  at  once.  Tract  distribution,  on  being  recommended, 
found  immediate  favor.  That  led  to  a  proposal  for  the 
circulation  of  religious  books  on  sale  and  no  one  took  hold 
of  it  with  more  of  personal  interest  and  energy  than  the 
Rev.  David  Greene.  It  was  a  suggestive  sight  to  see  a 
secretary  of  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for 
Foreign  Missions  going  from  house  to  house  here  at  home 
and  offering  valuable  literature  for  domestic  use.  The  next 
year  (1843)  the  suggestion  of  a  mission  Sunday  School 


VARIOUS  ASSOCIATIONS. 


U  3 


took  effect,  and  one  was  opened  in  a  public  schoolhouse 
on  Yeomans  Street  Deacon  John  Gulliver,  always  ready 
for  Christian  work,  was  asked  to  take  the  superintend¬ 
ence.  This  took  place  in  May;  and  in  the  course  of  the 
remainder  of  that  year,  one  hundred  and  forty-nine  schol¬ 
ars  had  been  gathered  in,  three  or  four  Roman  Catholic 
families  contributing  children. 

The  movement  issuing  in  such  a  school,  and  in  an 
irregular  tract  distribution,  reacted  upon  the  church  to 
awaken  a  deeper  and  deeper  interest  in  such  home  work. 
It  became  a  subject  of  earnest  conversation  what  could  be 
done  to  meet  the  spiritual  wants  of  many  living  around 
us,  and  living  in  the  neglect  or  involuntary  deprivation  of 
the  means  of  grace.  At  length  the  matter  found  its  way, 
though  all  too  tardily,  into  our  church  prayer  meeting. 
Looking  at  the  truancy  of  children  and  youths,  at  the 
amount  of  intemperance,  the  prevalence  of  Sabbath  dese¬ 
cration,  the  glaring  neglect  of  the  ordinances  and  Word 
of  God,  what  could  we,  amidst  ample  enjoyment  ourselves 
of  religious  privileges,  do  but  move  in  an  associated  effort 
for  the  abatement  of  those  evils?  Who  could  be  content 
to  hoard  his  blessings?  In  1850  the  church  resolved  to 
employ  a  laborer  who  should  devote  himself  especially 
to  Christian  work  among  the  classes  referred  to.  An  ex¬ 
perienced  and  discreet  minister  was  engaged.  It  was 
found  desirable  to  form  an  association  not  limited  to  the 
church,  but  embracing  all  in  the  congregation  who  might 
see  fit  to  join  it  and  to  which  the  executive  affairs  might 


144 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


be  committed.  That  was  done  in  June,  1851.  The  Eliot 
City  Missionary  Society  was  exceedingly  simple  in  its 
organization  and  of  easy  administration.  The  payment 
of  one  dollar  annually  made  any  one  in  the  congregation 
a  member.  The  Executive  Committee,  consisting  chiefly 
of  the  pastor  and  other  church  members,  were  entrusted 
with  the  immediate  management  of  the  mission.  Rev. 
Levi  Smith,  the  first  of  our  ordained  missionaries,  a  valua¬ 
ble  man,  had  not  strength  sufficient  for  the  work.  He 
was  obliged  to  resign,  and  not  long  after  entered  into  the 
final  rest.  At  length  we  were  favored  with  the  ministra¬ 
tions  of  another  most  excellent  man,  the  Rev.  David  M. 
Mitchell.  He  remained  in  the  service  about  eight  years, 
without  interruption,  without  friction,  and  in  a  spirit  and 
manner  that  commanded  universal  acceptance  and  respect. 
Two  female  missionaries  were  also  employed  at  different 
times,  one  of  whom,  Mrs.  Marsh,  the  widow  of  a  minister, 
was  a  woman  of  rare  fidelity  and  soundness  of  judgment. 

The  chief  departments  of  effort  were  as  follows :  A 
school  in  which  young  persons  were  taught  to  use  the 
needle,  and  where  also  was  opportunity  for  instruction 
from  the  Word  of  God.  Two  afternoons  were  devoted 
to  it  each  week,  and  over  a  hundred  were  often  in  attend¬ 
ance.  It  was  a  school  of  benevolence.  The  girls,  older 
and  younger,  were  encouraged  to  give  as  well  as  to  re¬ 
ceive.  One  incident  of  many  will  show  this.  A  little 
girl  on  finishing  a  garment  was  asked  by  the  superintend¬ 
ent,  which  she  would  rather  do,  keep  it  as  her  own  or  give 


VARIOUS  ASSOCIATIONS. 


J45 


it  to  somebody  less  favored  than  herself.  “  I  will  give  it 
away,”  she  promptly  replied,  and  at  once  selected  one  of 
the  most  destitute  in  the  group.  She  had  the  hearty 
thanks  of  the  obliged  child  and  an  approving  smile  from 
half  a  hundred  bright  faces.  Household  visitation  was 
maintained,  the  main  aim  being  to  promote  the  spiritual 
good  of  inmates  by  prayer  and  religious  conversation, 
Bible  and  tract  distribution,  and  by  encouraging  attend¬ 
ance  at  some  evangelical  place  of  worship.  Neighborhood 
prayer  meetings  were  started,  and  also  a  maternal  associa¬ 
tion.  A  judicious  ministration  to  the  temporal  wants  of 
the  more  needy  and  more  deserving  was  another  feature. 
In  the  person  of  each  missionary  was  a  temperance  agent, 
and  through  this  instrumentality  some  of  the  inebriates 
were  brought  back  to  habits  of  confirmed  sobriety,  and  a 
few  were  brought  to  sit  at  the  feet  of  Jesus,  apparently 
clothed  and  in  their  right  mind.  In  many  instances  situa¬ 
tions  were  found  in  the  country  for  boys  and  girls,  where 
good  care  and  good  domestic  influences  were  provided. 

One  of  the  Sunday  Schools  which  were  gathered  — 
that  on  Yeomans  Street,  afterwards  removed  to  Davis 
Street  already  referred  to  —  outgrew  Williams  Hall.  A 
lot  of  land  ten  thousand  feet  in  extent  —  sufficient  for  a 
meeting-house  also  —  was  accordingly  bought  (1856)  for 
$ 4,000 .  Thereon  was  built  a  chapel  which  would  seat 
about  three  hundred,  and  which,  with  its  furniture,  cost 
$1,500.  The  first  money  for  the  object  was  raised  by  a 
few  little  girls  who  got  up  a  private  fair  for  the  purpose. 


146 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


Every  bill  had  been  paid  before  the  dedication,  July  11, 

1856.  The  transfer  of  the  school  from  its  old  neighbor¬ 
hood  to  a  higher  and  more  attractive,  though  more  remote, 
station,  was  effected  without  the  loss  of  a  single  pupil. 
The  property  was  afterwards  given  to  the  Vine  Street 
Society,  the  Vine  Street  Church  being  organized  in 

1857. 

A  second  school,  which  Mr.  Benjamin  Perkins  super¬ 
intended,  was  gathered  on  King  Street,  and  had  a  Bible 
Class  of  adults.  Each  of  these  schools  was  furnished  with 
a  library,  and  it  was  a  gratifying  sight  to  witness  the 
order  and  decorum  as  well  as  the  avidity  with  which  the 
books  loaned  for  reading  were  received.  There  was  also 
a  good  deal  of  eagerness  for  the  Sunday  class  instruction. 
One  little  boy  who  had  removed  to  Charlestown  continued 
to  come  back  seasonably  to  the  place  at  the  appointed 
hour.  Another  little  child  who  lost  the  use  of  her  limbs 
longed  to  be  carried  there.  This  school  was  subsequently 
merged  in  the  third,  that  on  Parker  Street.  The  one 
last  referred  to  had  at  its  opening  session  the  first  Lord’s 
Day  of  1853,  only  ten  scholars  present.  But  a  steady 
growth  followed  till  an  average  of  three  hundred  was 
reached.  The  Infant  Class  grew  to  be  the  largest  in  the 
city.  Union  monthly  concerts  of  the  two  schools  were 
held  in  our  churph,  at  which  the  house,  including  the  gal¬ 
leries,  was  crowded.  This  public  fellowship  had  a  happy 
effect  in  promoting  unity  of  feeling  as  well  as  the  cause 
of  Bible  study.  In  the  early  days  of  the  three  schools 
the  teachers  were  all  from  the  Eliot  congregation. 


VARIOUS  ASSOCIATIONS. 


147 

Upon  the  annexation  of  Roxbury  to  Boston  (May  30, 
1850),  there  was  no  further  occasion  for  a  separate  City 
Missionary  Society,  and  that  of  the  Eliot  Church  gave 
place  after  a  while  to  the  older  one  of  the  older  city. 
Although  careful  statistics  were  kept  for  only  a  part  of 
the  time,  and  now  and  then  no  statistics  at  all,  yet  during 
a  portion  of  the  period  nine  thousand  articles  of  clothing 
were  distributed ;  about  ten  thousand  loans  or  gifts  of 
valuable  books,  besides  numerous  Bibles  and  New  Testa¬ 
ments;  about  twenty  thousand  tracts  were  put  in  circula¬ 
tion  and  more  than  forty  thousand  Christian  calls  were 
registered.  Not  less  than  two  thousand  dollars  were 
placed  by  individuals  in  the  hands  of  mission  almoners 
for  temporal  aid  of  the  needy.  A  good  many  situations 
were  found  for  men  and  women  out  of  employment. 
Orphaned  children  received  tender  care.  In  the  course 
of  twelve  years  the  outlay  of  the  Society  was  $11,358.37. 

Even  with  the  greatest  painstaking  complete  results 
could  not  have  been  tabulated.  We  had  reason  to  believe 
that  genuine  conversions  took  place.  Several  individuals 
joined  different  churches,  a  number  of  the  intemperate 
were  reclaimed ;  many  a  home  showed  signs  of  improve¬ 
ment  on  the  score  of  tidiness,  order  and  comfort,  and  in  a 
large  number  of  cases  of  sickness,  soothing  influences  and 
important  relief  were  bestowed.  If  we  would  learn  all  the 
more  valuable  results,  we  should  need  to  find  how  many 
minds,  not  likely  otherwise  to  be  reached,  received  helpful 
ideas  and  impulses,  how  many  hearts  were  moved  toward 


148 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


holiness  and  heaven,  we  should  need  to  count  the  emo¬ 
tions  of  gladness  awakened,  the  multitude  of  sins  covered 
and  prevented.  Happier  homes,  better  citizens,  more  con¬ 
sistent  Christians  not  a  few  would  be  included. 


CHAPTER  XII. 


SPECIAL  OCCASIONS  AND  OCCURRENCES. 
i.  Social  Gatherings. 

Sociability  has  characterized  the  Eliot  Church. 
More  than  one  stranger  has  confessed  to  never  having 
witnessed  this  in  equal  measure  elsewhere.  It  has  been 
due  partly  to  the  circumstance  of  wide  diversities  of  birth¬ 
place  and  condition,  which  suggest  a  special  need  of  culti¬ 
vating  acquaintance.  Now  and  then  there  would  be  an 
individual  who  complained  of  neglect,  and  however  many 
might  call,  had  no  idea  of  any  reciprocal  duty,  but  con¬ 
tinued  to  sulk  in  unamiable  seclusion.  I  have  never 
known  a  oeople  who,  in  general,  showed  an  equal  readi¬ 
ness  for  fraternizing.  I  remarked  this  early.  Promptness 
in  cordial  greetings  and  social  gatherings  was  noticeable. 
The  open  hand  for  salutation  was  also  a  generous  hand. 
At  the  present  day  surprise  parties,  for  instance,  are  not 
so  much  in  vogue  as  formerly.  They  began  here  when  I 
began  housekeeping,  and  there  was  occasion  all  along  for 
me  to  notice  an  emphatically  practical  element  that  en¬ 
tered  into  such  gatherings.  A  thoughtful  kindness  and 
tact  were  shown  by  ladies  in  making  such  preparations 
as  would  secure  carpets  against  injury,  and  secure  the 
family  against  expense.  A  delicate  considerateness  was 
shown  in  regard  to  domestic  needs,  the  needs  of  my 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


IS° 

library,  and  not  less  in  the  way  these  wants  were  sup¬ 
plied.  The  gentlemen  showed  their  preference  for  hard 
money,  in  that  a  purse  —  never  small  nor  light  —  would 
usually  be  left  on  the  study  table.  One  example  will 
show  the  way  things  were  managed.  I  was  invited  by  my 
former  hostess  to  take  tea  with  her,  and  accordingly  did 
so,  excusing  myself  at  eight  o’clock  on  account  of  an  en¬ 
gagement  to  meet  Dr.  Anderson,  who  was  to  be  at  my 
study  with  Deputation  documents.  I  hurried  home,  and 
on  opening  the  street  door  a  flood  of  gaslight  was  dis¬ 
charged  from  all  the  burners  in  the  house,  revealing  a 
party  of  not  less  than  two  hundred  friends,  all  with  beam¬ 
ing  faces,  who  instantly  began  to  sing  one  of  my  favorite 
hymns.  Of  course  I  was  surprised  and  a  little  confused, 
for  the  remotest  suspicion  of  what  was  going  on  had  not 
crossed  my  mind.  Mr.  Henry  Hill  then  stated  in  a  very 
pleasant  way  that  the  ladies  and  others  wished  to  wel¬ 
come  me  home.  At  nine  o’clock  I  was  shown  to  the 
dining-room  where  was  a  table  spread  most  amply  and 
beautifully. 

Birthdays  brought  a  sort  of  surprise,  partly  distributed 
into  calls  of  small  groups  or  of  individuals.  The  postman 
brought  notes  of  congratulation,  and  messengers  brought 
flowers.  The  Thirtieth  of  April  was  invariably  brightened 
and  perfumed  —  as  it  still  is  —  by  choice  tokens  selected 
at  the  greenhouse.  Cards  accompanying  remembrancers, 
beautiful  or  useful,  came  pretty  punctually  from  different 
parts  of  the  country  and  sometimes  from  beyond  sea.  It 


ANNIVERSARIES. 


ISI 

was  not  easy  —  and  to  this  day  is  not  easy  —  to  keep 
back  tears  of  grateful  gladness. 

2.  Anniversaries. 

Anniversaries  of  installation  were  observed.  Propo¬ 
sals  for  that  purpose  came  from  the  people,  who  issued 
printed  invitations. 

On  Lord’s  Day,  evening  of  July  21,  1867,  came  the 
twenty-fifth  anniversary  of  my  settlement.  Eight  or  more 
clergymen  were  present,  each  taking  some  part  in  the  ser¬ 
vices  of  the  occasion.  The  next  evening,  Monday  the  2 2d, 
there  was  a  gathering  for  social  greetings  at  six  o’clock  in 
the  chapel.  Mr.  Laban  S.  Beecher  called  to  order,  wel¬ 
comed  old  friends  and  all  to  the  anniversary,  made  state¬ 
ments  regarding  the  pastor,  and  proposed  that  they  sing  a 
part  of  the  hymn,  “  Blest  be  the  tie  that  binds.”  Mr.  Eben- 
ezer  Wheelwright  of  Newburyport,  a  former  member  of 
the  church,  spoke  at  some  length.  Before  adjournment 
to  the  church  for  more  public  exercises,  being  called  upon 
for  a  response,  I  closed  by  remarking  that  if,  at  the  Grand 
Paris  Exposition  then  in  progress,  a  prize  had  been  offered 
for  the  best  church,  the  most  united,  kind  and  considerate 
people  in  any  land,  I  knew  who  would  win  the  prize. 
And  further,  pastors  and  others,  some  from  the  neighbor¬ 
hood,  some  from  a  distance,  were  declared  to  belong  to 
the  Legion  of  Honor,  for 


“  Kind  hearts  are  more  than  coronets.” 


*52 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


At  the  public  evening  exercises  about  thirty  ministers 
were  present,  several  of  whom  took  part,  among  them  Dr. 
N.  Adams,  who  gave  the  right  hand  of  fellowship  twenty- 
five  years  before.1 

The  next  occasion  of  the  same  kind  falls  into  the 
period  subsequent  to  1871,  and  yet  it,  as  well  as  one  or 
two  other  gatherings  of  that  time,  should  have  a  word. 
Printed  invitations  were  issued  by  a  Committee  of  Arrange¬ 
ments.  The  title-page  of  a  book,  which  gives  an  account 
of  the  proceeding,  and  which  that  committee  prepared  for 
publication,  announces  “A  Jubilee,  the  Fiftieth  Anniver¬ 
sary  of  the  Settlement,”  etc.  “Ye  shall  hallow  the  fiftieth 
year.”  Lev.  25  :  10.  The  committee  state  that  “  the  pro¬ 
ceedings  were  carried  out  with  entire  success  and  with 
much  satisfaction  to  all  concerned.  On  Lord’s  Day  morn¬ 
ing,  the  25th  of  September,  Dr.  Thompson  delivered  the 
discourse,  the  devotional  exercises  being  conducted  by 
the  Associate  Pastor,  Dr.  B.  F.  Hamilton,  by  Dr.  Daniel 
L.  Furber  of  Newton  Centre,  and  the  Rev.  Isaac  C.  White, 
of  Scotland,  Mass.  On  the  platform  and  in  front  of  the 
pulpit  was  an  ample  supply  of  palms,  ferns  and  flowers 
tastefully  arranged,  while  above  the  pulpit  hung  the  motto, 
‘  Hallow  the  Fiftieth  Year,’  flanked  by  the  dates  1842- 
1892,  the  letters  being  done  in  flowers.  Exercises  on  the 
evening  of  the  same  day,  and  also  on  the  evening  of 
Wednesday  the  28th  took  place. 


1  A  Memorial  of  the  Twenty-Fifth  Anniversary  of  the  Settlement  of  Rev. 
A.  C.  Thompson,  d.  d.,  Pastor  of  the  Eliot  Church.  Riverside  Press.  1868. 


RECEPTIONS. 


153 


“  The  volume  entitled  ‘  Our  Birthdays,’  referred  to  by 
Dr.  Laurie  in  his  address  Sunday  evening,  came  from  the 
press  the  day  before,  and  is  dedicated  ‘To  the  members 
of  the  Eliot  Congregation,  who  have  reached  or  may  yet 
reach  seventy  years  of  age  and  upwards,  as  a  remem¬ 
brancer  of  the  eightieth  anniversary  of  birth  and  fiftieth 
anniversary  of  ordination,  by  their  friend,  the  Senior  Pas¬ 
tor.’  These  birthday  greetings  range  from  seventy-one  to 
one  hundred.  The  Committee  have  the  gratification  of 
handing  a  copy  of  Dr.  Thompson’s  book  to  those  mem¬ 
bers  of  the  church  now  living  whose  age  falls  within  the 
limits  thus  specified.” 


j.  Receptions. 

In  1850  two  Hawaiian  princes  came  to  this  country 
on  an  official  visit.  They  were  accompanied  by  Dr.  Ger- 
ritt  P.  Judd,  who  had  been  a  missionary  physician  at  the 
Sandwich  Islands,  but  was  then  a  confidential  minister  of 
the  king.  Mr.  Alvah  Kittredge,  our  senior  deacon,  had  a 
sister  who  was  the  wife  of  Rev.  Ephraim  W.  Clark,  a  mis¬ 
sionary  at  the  Islands ;  Mr.  Kittredge  also  had  the  most 
commodious  dwelling  of  any  one  in  our  congregation,  and 
a  heart  not  less  hospitably  capacious  than  his  house.  He 
gave  a  reception  to  the  foreigners,  and  Roxbury  never 
before  witnessed  such  a  crowd  on  such  an  occasion,  nor 
had  ever  before  had  a  visit  of  such  representatives  of  roy¬ 
alty.  No  two  sons  of  a  European  monarch  would  have 


J54 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


shown  a  finer  physique  or  have  demeaned  themselves  with 
more  propriety  and  perhaps  not  with  more  of  grace  than 
these  young  men  from  the  Pacific  islands,  which  were 
then  recently  reclaimed  from  barbarism.  Their  perfectly 
courteous  bearing  was  a  monumental  witness  to  the  civil¬ 
izing  power  of  Christianity  and  to  the  fidelity  of  the  mis¬ 
sionaries  of  the  American  Board.  The  princes  extended 
their  visit  to  Europe.  One  of  them  afterwards  came  to 
the  throne  as  Kamehameha  IV,  and  dying  in  1863,  was 
succeeded  by  his  younger  brother,  Kamehameha  V. 

On  a  comparatively  reduced  scale  receptions  took 
place  when  twenty-fifth  anniversaries  of  marriage  came 
round.  The  same,  too,  in  naturally  fewer  cases  when  golden 
weddings  occurred.  In  December,  1857,  came  that  of  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Abel  Baker,  then  living  in  Brookline.  Their 
youngest  son  made  the  arrangements  and  bore  the  ex¬ 
penses.  The  grounds  were  lighted  in  all  directions  with 
Syrian  lanterns,  having  various  colored  lights.  The  deco¬ 
rations  of  evergreens  and  flowers  were  abundant  and  taste¬ 
ful.  It  was  a  fairy  evening  scene.  About  a  hundred 
guests  assembled  to  greet  the  venerable  and  worthy 
couple.  The  bride  when  married  in  1807  was  sixteen, 
and  even  at  this  time  (1857)  had  more  color  and  fresh¬ 
ness  of  expression  than  most  young  women  of  that  age. 

Another  of  these  occasions  was  the  jubilee  anniver¬ 
sary  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Austin  Richards,  19th  of 
December,  1877.  Two  of  his  brothers,  then  deceased,  had 
been  missionaries,  one  in  the  Sandwich  Islands,  the  other 


RECEPTIONS. 


I55 


in  the  Island  of  Ceylon,  from  whose  grave  I  was  able  to 
hand  a  memorial  flower  along  with  Dr.  N.  Adams’  “  At 
Eventide.” 

It  was  in  the  year  just  named  that  Dr.  Rufus  Ander¬ 
son,  senior  secretary  of  the  American  Board,  made  an 
official  visit  to  the  Hawaiian  Islands.  The  distance  by 
way  of  the  Isthmus  of  Darien  is  about  four  thousand 
miles.  Upon  his  return  in  September  we  had  a  public 
meeting  of  welcome.  This  was  the  fourth  similar  visit  of 
his  in  different  parts  of  the  world.  Mrs.  Anderson  and  a 
daughter  accompanied  him.  On  the  return  voyage  in  the 
Pacific  their  steamer  encountered  a  terrific  storm,  and  it 
seemed  for  a  time  as  if  all  on  board  must  be  lost.  Dr. 
Anderson  said  little  about  perils  of  the  sea,  but  occupied 
an  hour  in  giving  the  results  of  Christian  labor  at  the 
Islands.  Our  church  was  filled,  and  the  congregation 
rose  and  sung,  — 

“  How  are  thy  servants  blest,  O  Lord.” 

All  “  were  glad  of  the  coming  of  Fortunatus.” 

The  fiftieth  anniversary,  January  8,  1877,  °f  Dr.  and 
Mrs.  Anderson’s  marriage  was  a  specially  gratifying  occa¬ 
sion.  But  for  the  limitation  of  their  strength  the  obser¬ 
vance  would  have  taken  place  in  the  church,  which  would 
no  doubt  have  been  filled.  Only  the  chapel,  however,  was 
opened  and  invitations  were  accordingly  restricted  in  num¬ 
ber.  The  children  of  the  family  and  grandchildren  were 
present,  besides  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  friends, 
among  whom  were  eighteen  ministers.  These  had  chiefly 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


156 

been  Dr.  Anderson’s  official  and  professional  associates. 
A  beautiful  arbor  had  been  erected  at  the  head  of  the 
chapel,  its  framework  covered  with  evergreen,  and  over 
the  front  a  floral  crown  with  a  basket  of  flowers  sus¬ 
pended  beneath.  At  either  end  of  the  arch  was  a  date, 
1827-1877,  whilst  in  the  centre  was  a  monogram,  “A.,  H.” 
—  H  being  the  initial  of  her  family  name  when  Eliza 
Hill  was  a  bride,  and  when  the  marriage  service  was 
solemnized  by  Rev.  Aaron  Hovey  at  Saybrook,  Connec¬ 
ticut.  In  the  rear  were  two  floral  crosses  with  a  wreath 
between  them. 

No  couple  more  revered  and  beloved  ever  sat  beneath 
an  arbor  of  livelier  green,  behind  each  of  whom  was  a 
symbol  of  that  to  which,  in  trust,  hope  and  service  they 
had  long  been  jointly  loyal.  For  forty  years  they  had 
been  connected  with  the  Eliot  Church,  and  Dr.  Anderson 
had  for  full  half  a  century  been  officially  connected  with 
the  American  Board  of  Foreign  Missions.  He  was  now 
in  his  eighty-first  year,  of  noble  presence,  tall,  and  as  erect 
as  any  young  man  then  present.  After  an  hour  spent  in 
congratulations  a  collation  was  served.  It  was  understood 
that  no  speeches  were  to  be  made,  but  being  urged  to 
say  something,  I  could  hardly  do  less  than  convey  a  hearty 
welcome  to  all  the  guests,  stating  that  among  them,  be¬ 
sides  two  whose  similar  anniversaries  had  already  occurred, 
there  was  one  who  would  celebrate  a  golden  wedding  in 
the  Spring  following,  and  another  who  would  do  the 
same  in  the  Autumn  of  that  year.  Attention  was  directed 


CIVIL  WAR  TIME. 


*57 


to  a  friend  in  the  crowd,  whose  bridal  veil  of  more  than 
fifty  years  before  was  the  head-dress  of  that  afternoon. 
Letters  of  greeting,  some  from  missionaries  abroad  and 
from  other  friends  were  in  hand,  but  time  to  hear  them 
then  failed.  A  short  time  before  that  I  had  occasion  to 
write  on  business  to  the  venerable  Dr.  Charles  Hodge  of 
Princeton,  in  his  eightieth  year,  who  had  been  longer 
engaged  in  theological  education  than  any  other  man  in 
the  country,  and  who  was  a  personal  friend  of  Dr.  Ander¬ 
son.  In  a  postscript  I  referred  to  the  approaching  fiftieth 
anniversary.  At  the  close  of ,  his  letter  in  reply,  Dr. 
Hodge  said,  “  Our  dear  friend,  Dr.  Rufus  Anderson,  has 
had  a  golden  life.  It  is  meet  he  should  have  a  golden 
wedding  before  he  gets  his  golden  crown.  Give  him 
my  best  love  with  congratulations,  and  beg  him  to  help 
by  his  prayers  his  tottering  brethren.”  The  Junior 
Pastor,  Rev.  Mr.  Hamilton,  read  selections  of  Scripture, 
a  prayer  followed,  and  Dr.  Anderson  pronounced  the 
benediction. 


4.  Civil  War  Time. 

The  first  rebel  shot  fired  at  Fort  Sumpter  struck 
thousands  of  hearts  north  of  Mason  and  Dixon’s  line. 
The  shock  was  tremendous;  the  waking  up  of  the  general 
mind  was  wonderful.  A  common  sentiment  thrilled  all 
loyal  citizens.  Hundreds  upon  hundreds  of  national  flags 
might  soon  be  seen  floating,  look  which  way  you  might. 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


J58 


Conversation,  reading,  preaching  turned  largely  upon  this 
theme.  There  was  not  a  copper-head  in  our  congrega¬ 
tion.  Ladies  were  busy  and  school  girls,  too,  in  sewing 
for  the  army.  Women  in  the  eighties  and  one  who  was 
ninety  knit  faster  than  ever  before.  An  immediate  social 
effect  was  striking.  Citizens  who  had  never  before  spoken 
to  one  another  at  once  grew  companionable.  A  deep 
interest  in  volunteers  was  manifested.  Capt.  Ebenezer 
Stone,  now  Colonel  Stone,  brought  his  company  to  church 
of  a  Sunday  morning  in  May,  1861.  The  Stars  and 
Stripes  fell  gracefully  though  not  ostentatiously  from  the 
Bible-stand  over  the  table  in  front.  A  sermon  on  The 
Soldier  and  the  Bible ,  from  the  text  “  And  take  the  helmet 
of  salvation,”  was  preached.  After  the  sermon  I  pre¬ 
sented  each  of  the  officers  and  men  of  the  company,  at 
the  hands  of  our  deacons,  a  copy  of  the  Psalms  and  New 
Testament  bound  together  and  appropriately  for  the  knap¬ 
sack.  The  congregation  then  sang  America ,  and  they 
sang  with  a  will. 

On  the  evening  of  September  22  there  was  a  union 
prayer  meeting  at  the  First  Baptist  Church.  The  day 
had  been  rainy,  the  walking  was  bad,  and  approach  to  the 
church  difficult  owing  to  street  repairs,  yet  the  house 
including  the  galleries  was  thronged.  When  the  national 
Fast  Day  came  the  attendance  upon  morning  worship  in 
our  church  was  larger  than  on  any  previous  similar  occa¬ 
sion,  and  at  the  social  meeting  in  the  afternoon  the  lec¬ 
ture  room  was  well  filled. 


CIVIL  WAR  TIME. 


159 

Lord’s  Day,  August  31,  1862,  was  a  memorable  day 
with  us.  Just  before  the  hour  of  morning  service  a  mes¬ 
senger  from  the  Mayor  came  in  great  haste,  announcing 
the  second  defeat  of  our  Union  army  at  Bull  Run,  and 
the  urgent  need  of  hospital  supplies  for  the  wounded. 
This  word  was  at  once  communicated  to  the  congrega¬ 
tion.  Dr.  William  Adams  of  New  York,  who  was  spend¬ 
ing  the  day  with  me,  merely  offered  prayer  and  the 
assembly  was  dismissed.  People  hastened  to  their  homes 
for  articles  which  had  been  named  from  the  pulpit.  Boxes 
in  large  number  were  required,  and  soon  filled  the  lecture 
room  as  well  as  the  sidewalk  in  front.  The  sound  of 
hammers  resounded  for  awhile,  but  prayers  went  up 
amidst  the  confusion.  Before  many  hours  had  passed  a 
freight-train  with  various  supplies  was  on  its  way  to  the 
scene  of  suffering. 

Early  and  late  during  the  war  pastoral  sympathies 
were  constantly  and  strenuously  wrought  upon.  Calls 
and  interviews  now  come  to  mind  with  painful  distinct¬ 
ness.  I  remember  a  young  mother  —  with  her  first-born 
child  only  three  weeks  old  — weeping  profusely  at  the 
thought  of  her  husband’s  joining  his  regiment.  As  a  gen¬ 
eral  thing  the  women  showed  no  less  patriotism  and  read¬ 
iness  for  sacrifice  than  the  men.  In  one  home  was  a 
family  of  three  widows ;  also  a  young  man  of  promise  only 
eighteen,  who  enlisted.  His  mother,  then  absent,  wrote 
me,  “  Why  should  my  whole  head  grow  sick  and  my 
whole  heart  faint  in  view  of  this  new  trial,  when  I  have 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


160 

so  often  felt  the  loving  presence  of  my  Heavenly  Father’s 
sustaining  arm  and  have  heard  the  whisper,  ‘  As  thy  days, 
so  shall  thy  strength  be  ?  ’  Our  country  is  in  peril  and 
calls  loudly  to  her  sons  to  come  forward  and  hold  up 
the  standard  of  Liberty.  I  will  not  shrink  though  it  take 
my  own,  my  precious  first-born  son.  I  can  make  no 
dearer  offering  and  I  would  make  it  cheerfully.”  I  went 
with  the  letter  and  read  it  to  the  writer’s  aged  mother, 
the  young  man’s  grandmother.  “  Well,”  she  remarked, 
“  I  am  glad  Lucy  can  give  him  up,  and  I  am  glad  this  is 
the  sixth  grandson  that  I  have  given  up  for  the  army.” 
As  one  volunteer  after  another  was  making  ready  to  leave 
home,  or  had  reached  that  trying  hour,  there  were  fre¬ 
quent  interviews  with  families  and  individuals,  little  keep¬ 
sakes  to  be  passed,  cheering  words  to  be  said,  perhaps 
prayer  to  be  offered.  Mothers,  wives  and  sisters  found 
it  hard  to  suppress  tears  as  month  after  month  of  anxiety 
went  by.  The  prevailing  expression  of  countenance 
throughout  the  community  underwent  a  change ;  so,  too, 
the  rate  of  movement  and  general  demeanor.  There 
were  only  a  few  in  our  congregation  who  had  not  per¬ 
sonal  occasion,  more  or  less  immediate,  for  solicitude 
about  some  regiment  in  the  service.  It  required  no 
effort  on  my  part  to  enter  into  the  feelings  of  others. 
When  the  Massachusetts  Forty-fifth  was  mustered  on 
Boston  Common  for  the  presentation  of  colors,  thousands, 
literally  thousands  of  friends  were  there  for  leave-taking. 
As  the  order  was  given  to  fall  into  line,  I  assisted  my 


CIVIL  WAR  TIME. 


161 


daughter  in  buckling  the  knapsack  on  to  my  only  son. 
We  kissed  him  good-by,  a  robust  and  cheerful  young 
man.  The  next  time  we  saw  him  he  was  haggard  and 
prostrate  with  malarial  fever  brought  from  North  Caro¬ 
lina.  The  whole  number  from  our  congregation  in  the 
army  and  navy  was  about  fifty,  of  whom  nine  were  only 
sons.  Forty-two  individuals-  of  the  congregation  had 
brothers  in  the  army ;  two  ladies  had  each  a  grandson ; 
another  had  five  grandsons,  and  yet  another  had  six. 
Eleven  persons  had  sons  belonging  elsewhere  than  in 
Roxbury  who  enlisted.  Fifteen  of  our  friends  lost  rela¬ 
tives  —  two  losing  husbands,  five  losing  sons,  and  seven 
losing  brothers.  But  we  heard  of  no  desertion,  nor  any¬ 
thing  dishonorable  on  the  part  of  any  of  them ;  we  did 
hear  of  fidelity  and  bravery.  One  young  man  in  his  nine¬ 
teenth  year  wrote  expressing  a  new-found  Christian  hope. 
He  became  hospital  steward  at  Roanoke  Island,  and 
asked  for  religious  books  and  tracts  to  distribute  among 
the  sick  and  wounded.  Another  young  man,  a  member 
of  our  church,  on  board  the  Minnesota ,  in  one  of  his  let¬ 
ters  said,  “  I  have  been  engaged  in  battle  on  two  occa¬ 
sions  at  Hatteras  Inlet,  and  in  an  encounter  with  the 
Merrimac.  I  am  expecting  soon  to  be  amidst  scenes  of 
conflict  and  death.  I  take  this  opportunity  to  inform  you 
that  I  enjoy  a  blessed  hope,  which  gives  me  great  com¬ 
fort  and  peace  of  mind  in  the  hour  of  danger.  Yes,  Jesus 
is  precious  to  me.  I  believe  that  his  precious  blood  has 
cleansed  me  from  my  sins  and  reconciled  my  sinful  soul 


162 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


to  God.  I  long  to  feel  more  fully  the  weight  of  those 
words  of  the  Apostle  Paul,  “For  me  to  live  is  Christ;  to 
die  is  gain.” 

More  than  one  death  of  our  soldiers  was  due  not  to 
fatality  on  the  field  but  to  sickness  in  the  hospital.  Re¬ 
mains  were  brought  home  for  interment,  and  a  public 
funeral  service  took  place.  That  of  Sergeant  J.  D.  Loker 
occurred  early  in  January,  1863.  The  captain  of  the  com¬ 
pany  wrote  :  “  He  was  an  honorable,  high-souled  man  ; 
one  whom  I  regret  of  all  others  to  see  laid  low ;  ”  and 
the  colonel  also,  “  His  death  is  a  loss  to  the  regiment 
that  cannot  be  replaced.”  Later  in  the  same  month  came 
the  funeral  of  Robert  M.  Carson  in  the  Mission  Chapel. 
He  was  a  man  of  truly  excellent  Christian  character. 
The  address  on  that  occasion  having  been  printed,  a  copy 
was  sent  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Gage,  chaplain  at  the  hospital 
in  Alexandria  where  our  friend  died.  He  read  it  as  an 
afternoon  sermon  to  the  soldiers,  who  expressed  so  much 
interest  that  he  sent  for  a  hundred  copies.  After  the 
first  five  hundred  had  been  printed  a  friend  in  the  Eliot 
Church  ordered  seventeen  hundred  more.  “  Them  that 
honor  me,  I  will  honor.”  It  was  a  noteworthy  circum¬ 
stance  that,  up  to  this  time,  the  three  funeral  discourses 
of  mine  which  had  been  requested  for  publication  were 
occasioned  by  the  decease  of  perhaps  the  three  obscurest 
members  of  the  Eliot  Church.  But  the  most  impressive 
mortuary  service  during  this  war  came  after  the  battle 
of  Antietam.  The  remains  of  fourteen  soldiers  belonging 


SICKNESS  AND  ABSENCES. 


163 


to  a  Roxbury  company  were  brought  to  one  of  our 
churches.  It  was  an  unusual  sight  to  look  down  an  aisle 
and  see  none  but  mourners  in  the  crowded  pews.  A 
brilliant  young  nephew  of  mine,  an  officer  in  a  Connec¬ 
ticut  regiment,  fell  in  that  terrible  engagement.  I  hardly 
need  add  that  my  constant  personal  intercourse  with 
friends  who  had  great  interests  at  stake  in  the  war,  cor¬ 
respondence  with  many  who  were  in  the  service,  the  news 
of  disasters,  sickness  and  deaths,  occasioned  insomnia 
and  a  disabling  disturbance  of  the  nervous  system. 


5.  Sickness  and  Absences. 

If  any  man  needs  robust  health  it  is  the  minister. 
He  needs  it  in  his  study ;  he  needs  it  for  the  pulpit ;  he 
needs  it  as  a  preventive  to  manifold  morbid  liabilities, 
both  mental  and  spiritual.  Insufficient  muscular  exercise 
and  unwise  brain  work  cost  many  a  one  his  comfort  and 
continued  usefulness.  The  man  who  shall  prepare  an 
adequately  effective  book  on  clerical  hygiene  will  be  a 
benefactor  of  the  profession  and  of  the  church.  True, 
the  pastor’s  ill-health  may  prove  a  helpful  experience  in 
promoting  sympathy  with  the  feeble  and  suffering  mem¬ 
bers  of  his  flock.  If  it  fails  of  that,  it  fails  of  one  most 
appropriate  result,  and  to  lose  personally  sanctified  bene¬ 
fits  of  sickness  is  indeed  a  great  loss.  John  Wesley  could 
speak  of  a  “  friendly  fever,”  and  he  learned  how  to  be 
grateful  for  such  a  visitation ;  “  God  does  chasten  me 


164 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


with  pain,”  said  he,  “  yea,  all  my  bones  with  strong  pain, 
but  I  thank  him  for  all,  I  bless  him  for  all!”  In  bodily 
presence  Paul  was  weak;  and  he  speaks  of  his  son 
Timothy’s  often  infirmities.  All  along  these  eighteen 
hundred  years  the  divine  hand  has  laid  many  a  minister 
on  his  back;  but  has  it  not  been  that  he  might  the  more 
devoutly  look  upward?  The  sick  room  teaches  some 
things  that  cannot  be  learned  in  the  library,  and  one  is 
to  bear  as  well  as  to  do. 

I  make  no  profession  of  resemblance  to  Richard  Bax¬ 
ter  in  more  than  a  single  respect.  Referring  to  the  man 
in  the  Gospel,  who  had  an  infirmity  thirty  and  eight  years, 
Baxter  speaks  of  “  The  like  discipline  of  fifty-eight  years  ” 
in  his  own  case.  It  is  now  fifty-eight  years  since  my  ordi¬ 
nation,  and .  during  that  period  there  has  been  scarcely  an 
entire  week  of  entire  health.  During  the  time  of  my 
more  active  and  more  responsible  pastorate  (1842-1871)  I 
lost  upon  an  average  one  day  each  week  from  sick-head- 
aches.  Toward  the  close  of  his  life,  Rev.  Sela  B.  Treat, 
a  secretary  of  the  American  Board,  told  me  that  he  had 
never  had  a  headache.  It  seemed  incredible.  So,  too, 
what  Dr.  John  Pierce  of  Brookline,  in  his  last  sickness 
said  to  a  friend,  that  for  nearly  forty  years  he  had  not 
known  what  it  was  to  have  a  physical  infirmity  worth  men¬ 
tioning;  and  not  less  in  the  life  of  Theodore  Beza  the 
statement  that  “  He  yielded  up  his  spirit  to  God,  A.  D., 
1605,  Ae.  86.  He  used  to  say  that  he  never  knew  what 
it  was  to  have  a  headache.”  Occasionally  the  illness  of 


SICKNESS  AND  ABSENCES. 


i65 

which  I  speak  was  temporary,  yet  for  twenty-four  hours 
completely  disabling.  Sometimes  it  continued  two  and 
even  three  days.  This,  of  course,  reduced  not  a  little  the 
time  and  strength  for  active  effort.  It  did  not  materially 
relieve  the  matter  to  be  told  that  Basil  suffered  in  the 
same  way,  and  that  Chrysostom,  too,  in  his  later  years 
was  subject  to  an  inveterate  headache. 

The  chief  resulting  trial  from  this  and  other  ailments 
was  the  interference  with  public  duties.  Interruption  to 
pulpit  and  parochial  labor,  brief  or  lengthened,  occurred 
repeatedly.  The  longest  absence,  that  of  fifteen  months 
on  a  deputational  visit  to  missions  in  India,  was  not,  to 
be  sure,  owing  to  sickness,  though  encouraged  by  physi¬ 
cians  as  probably  beneficial  to  health.  It  is  to  be  ob¬ 
served  that  our  Great  Physician  never  consults  us  con¬ 
cerning  the  time  or  form  of  physical  disabilities.  One 
may  groan  without  grumbling;  but  it  must  be  confessed 
that  I  never  attained  to  the  experience  of  Thomas  Adam 
(1701-1784),  in  whose  “Private  Thoughts”  is  this  record: 
“  Blessed  be  God  for  all  his  favors,  and  particularly  for  the 
special  mercy  of  bodily  pain.” 

The  chronic  ailment  above  referred  to  in  no  wise 
interfered  with  various  other  special  attacks.  Soon  after 
I  commenced  housekeeping  there  came  a  fever  that  kept 
me  out  of  the  pulpit  for  three  months.  Nervous  prostra¬ 
tion  and  prolonged  insomnia  sent  me  to  the  West  Indies 
for  a  five  months’  rest  in  1851-1852.  The  same  nervous 
disturbance  occasioned  a  medical  order  the  next  year  for 


i6  6 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


a  month’s  recreation  in  Virginia;  and  in  1862  a  broken 
arm  kept  me  the  same  length  of  time  from  preaching,  till 
I  was  able  to  go  into  the  pulpit  with  the  invalid  member 
in  a  sling.  Three-fourths  of  the  next  twelve  months 
(1864-1865)  were  lost  to  official  labor  by  reason  of  a  slow 
fever  and  neuralgia.  A  similar  invasion  of  subsequent 
weakness  led  to  a  month’s  loss  of  working  time.  In  the 
aggregate,  two  years’  time  was  thus  given  up  to  invalidism. 
If  a  complete  though  unsavory  enumeration  of  ailments 
were  to  be  given,  mention  would  have  to  be  made  of 
pleurisy  occurring  twice,  of  frequent  rheumatism,  of.  chills 
and  fever  after  exposures  west  of  the  Mississippi,  and  even 
an  undignified  whooping  cough.  A  paroxysm  would  come 
on  just  before  and  just  after,  but  happily  never  in  the 
midst  of  a  public  service. 

A  serious  embarrassment  resulted  from  weakness  of 
the  eyes.  This  seemed  to  be  owing  to  the  minute  poison¬ 
ous  dust  which  was  encountered  when  crossing  the  Afri¬ 
can  desert  in  1854.  Persistent  inflammation  of  the  eye¬ 
lids  followed  for  years.  It  became  necessary  to  employ 
an  amanuensis,  though  an  expensive  luxury.  For  the  last 
forty-six  years  most  of  my  manuscripts,  letters  included, 
have  not  been  in  my  own  hand.  Hence  a  good  deal  of 
undeserved  credit  has  been  imputed  to  me  on  the  score 
of  caligraphy. 

In  a  few  instances  sudden  illness  interrupted  public 
services.  Once  in  September,  1849,  I  was  taken  so  ill  in 
the  midst  of  a  morning’s  discourse  as  to  be  obliged  to 


SICKNESS  AND  ABSENCES. 


167 


leave  the  pulpit  and  to  be  carried  home.  In  two  other 
instances,  having  occasion  to  deliver  by  request  sermons 
on  special  subjects,  I  had  to  stop  midway  in  the  delivery. 
But  each  time  Rev.  Dr.  J.  O.  Means,  being  in  the  pulpit 
with  me,  proceeded  with  the  discourse,  till  by  the  use  of 
smelling-bottles  and  other  devices  faintness  so  far  yielded 
that  I  was  able  to  resume  preaching. 

At  length  came  the  consummate  trial  of  professional 
life.  It  was  not  so  much  bodily  suffering  as  a  medical 
injunction  enforcing  silence  in  the  pulpit.  Sciatica  had 
become  excruciating.  A  Boston  expert,  in  whose  hands 
I  had  been  for  two  months  in  the  early  part  of  1871, 
wrote  me :  “  From  long  experience  in  such  cases,  I  must 
tell  you  that  it  is  my  opinion  that  you  probably  will  not 
get  rid  of  it  while  you  continue  your  mental  labors.  I 
believe  it  is  not  a  simple  local  sciatica  but  a  manifestation 
of  deranged  nervous  system  that  absolutely  calls  for  rest, 
protracted  rest  for  the  nerve  centers,  such  as  a  long  sea 
voyage  could  do,  or  some  such  absence  from  study,  library 
and  pulpit.”  After  a  thorough  examination  in  May  of 
that  year  by  consulting  physicians,  Dr.  John  Jefferies 
gave  his  own,  which  was  also  a  joint  opinion :  “  He  has 
an  important  disease  of  the  nervous  system,  the  nature  of 
which  renders  it  impossible  that  he  should  be  restored  to 
future  usefulness,  without  an  entire  freedom  from  all  men¬ 
tal  labor  and  other  exciting  causes  for  an  indefinite 
period  of  time.  The  tendency  of  his  complaint  is  to  in¬ 
crease,  and  it  certainly  will  do  so  if  he  continues  in  those 


1 68 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


occupations  which  have  occasioned  his  present  illness.  I 
consider  perfect  rest  from  ministerial  labors  and  from 
study  as  absolutely  requisite  for  his  recovery.”  An  ab¬ 
sence  of  fourteen  months  ensued,  during  which  the  ablest 
physicians  in  Edinburgh  and  elsewhere  were  consulted. 
A  violent  bronchitis  set  in.  At  one  time  while  in  Geneva, 
Switzerland,  I  gave  up  expectation  of  being  able  to  return 
home.  Meanwhile,  as  had  been  arranged  with  my  hearty 
approval,  Dr.  B.  F.  Hamilton  was  installed  colleague  pas¬ 
tor,  and  on  my  return  home  anxiety  regarding  the  pulpit 
was  at  an  end.  A  finality  also  seemed  to  be  reached 
when  Dr.  Bowditch,  upon  repeated  examinations,  advised 
me  never  to  attempt  preaching  again,  and  that  every 
winter  should  be  spent  in  Florida,  or  some  other  latitude 
not  less  mild. 

It  would  be  an  unpardonable  omission  if  there  were 
a  failure  to  speak  of  the  kindness  shown  by  the  Eliot 
congregation  during  that  third  of  a  century.  It  was 
prompt  and  generous.  There  was  a  special  overflow  of 
kindness  connected  with  seasons  of  suffering  and  debility. 
There  were  abundant  tokens  in  flowers,  in  delicacies,  in 
oral  and  written  messages,  in  provision  for  pulpit  sup¬ 
plies,  and  in  pecuniary  relief.  The  heartiness  of  greetings 
upon  each  return  after  an  extended  absence  was  memor¬ 
able.  One  instance  occurs  to  me  with  special  distinct¬ 
ness,  when  at  a  public  reception  an  original  hymn  was 
sung,  entitled,  “A  Welcome  to  our  Beloved  Pastor,”  be¬ 
ginning  :  — 


SICKNESS  AND  ABSENCES. 


169 


“  Thanks,  O  F ather !  for  thy  mercy ; 

Here  beneath  thy  temple-dome, 

With  united  voice  we  praise  thee, 

Who  hast  led  our  loved  one  home ; 

Friend  and  Shepherd  —  Friend  and  Shepherd, 

To  our  souls’  embraces  come.” 

The  time  will  never  come  in  this  world  or  in  the 
future  world,  when  the  good  will  and  tenderness  shown 
year  after  year  can  cease  to  awaken  lively  gratitude. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


COLONIAL  CHURCHES. 

/.  Vine  Street  Church. 

The  existence  of  a  Mission  Sunday  School  and  then 
of  the  Eliot  City  Missionary  Society  not  unnaturally  sug¬ 
gested  the  practicability  of  a  new  Congregational  Church. 
I  had  come  to  entertain  very  decidedly  the  opinion  that  in 
every  growing  community  there  should  be  church  sittings 
in  advance  of  demand,  and  I  urged  this  upon  certain 
leading  men  year  after  year,  arguing  that  two  churches 
would  grow  as  fast  as  if  there  were  only  one ;  that  an 
enterprising  spirit  is  both  an  element  and  an  earnest  of 
blessing;  that  it  would  be  disastrous  for  us  to  rest  con¬ 
tent  with  a  snug  little  Zion  of  our  own.  The  imperative 
need  of  a  movement  became  at  length  obvious,  for  our 
place  of  worship  was  full.  Within  the  six  months  pre¬ 
vious  to  the  formation  of  a  new  church  more  than  twenty 
unsuccessful  applications  were  made  for  sittings.  At  that 
time  there  were  thirteen  cities  in  Massachusetts.  On  the 
score  of  valuation  Roxbury  stood  next  to  Boston.  Prop¬ 
erty  averaged  over  nine  hundred  dollars  per  capita ,  yet  in 
regard  to  orthodox  church  accommodations  we  were  at 
the  bottom  of  the  list.  Ecclesiastically  we  were  the 
weakest  of  the  thirteen.  Formal  action  first  took  place 
at  a  meeting  of  the  church,  February  6,  1857,  by  the  ap- 


VINE  STREET  CHURCH. 


171 

pointment  of  a  committee  to  consider  the  expediency  of 
the  proposed  measure.  At  the  next  meeting  it  was  unani¬ 
mously  agreed  to  set  apart  the  following  Friday  as  a  day 
of  special  fasting  and  prayer  in  behalf  of  a  deeper  spiritual 
life  and  of  a  blessing  upon  the  contemplated  enterprise. 
Public  services  were  accordingly  held  on  that  day,  fore¬ 
noon,  afternoon  and  evening.  At  one  of  them  a  back¬ 
slidden  brother  made  confession,  frank  and  evidently  peni¬ 
tent,  of  his  delinquencies.  Such  an  act  usually  furnishes 
evidence  of  the  Holy  Spirit’s  special  presence.  A  large 
committee  was  then  designated  to  take  the  steps  required 
for  constituting  a  new  Christian  brotherhood  on  Mt. 
Pleasant.  That  was  a  time  of  evidently  growing  religious 
interest  among  us;  and  it  has  since  been  an  occasion  for 
gratitude  that  the  Vine  Street,  now  Immanuel  Church, 
was  born  and  baptized  amidst  a  revival.  May  that  feature 
of  its  origin  prove  an  augury  of  its  abiding  character ! 

Appropriate  preliminaries  were  soon  completed. 
Twenty-six  members  of  our  church  —  a  choice  band, 
and  including  our  most  prominent  office-bearer  —  formed 
the  nucleus.  In  the  letter  dismissing  them  to  a  council, 
called  for  the  purpose  of  recognizing  the  organization, 
there  were  honest  words  of  tearful  regret  at  the  parting, 
and  also  the  assurance  of  warm  affection  and  a  clear  con¬ 
viction  that  the  proceeding  was  demanded  in  the  provi¬ 
dence  of  God.  Said  council  met  in  our  church ;  there, 
too,  the  installation  of  the  first  pastor,  Rev.  J.  O.  Means, 
took  place  a  little  later.  The  Articles  of  Faith  and  the 
Covenant  of  this  mother  church  were  adopted. 


172 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


Soon  after  came  an  extended  letter,  “  By  vote  and  in 
behalf  of  the  Vine  Street  Church:”  “We  thank  you  for 
your  kind  expressions  of  Christian  love  in  connection  with 
our  dismission  from  your  communion,  and  for  the  cor¬ 
diality  with  which  you  took  part  by  your  pastor  and  dele¬ 
gate  in  the  doings  and  deliberations  of  the  Council.  We 
can  never  forget  the  tender  farewell  spoken  to  us  by  him 
whose  ministrations  it  is  your  privilege  still  to  enjoy;  and 
our  earnest  prayer  is  that  those  ministrations  may  long  be 
continued  to  you,  and  be  blessed  to  your  great  spiritual 
enlargement  and  prosperity,  and  to  the  in-gathering  of 
many  precious  souls  now  without  hope  and  without  God 
in  the  world.” 

Never  did  a  church  of  Christ  come  into  being  under 
circumstances  of  greater  harmony  or  warmer  recipro¬ 
cal  good-will.  A  rich  blessing  came  at  once  to  those 
who  bade  Godspeed  to  departing  friends.  Within  three 
months  from  that  withdrawal  the  same  number  as  had 
been  set  apart  for  the  new  undertaking  were  welcomed 
to  the  Eliot  Church.  When  the  first  anniversary  of  the 
new  brotherhood  came  round,  more  additions  had  already 
been  made  to  the  older  of  the  two  than  the  former  has 
contributed  all  told  to  the  latter.  The  growth,  harmony 
and  efficiency  of  the  Immanuel  Church  have  been  a  con¬ 
stant  delight  to  friends  on  Kenilworth  Street. 


HIGHLAND  CHURCH. 


173 


2.  Highland  Church . 

The  gradual  growth  of  the  Sunday  School  and  con¬ 
gregation  on  Parker  Street  occasioned  great  gratification, 
while  it  added  not  a  little  to  my  own  cares  and  labors. 
Frequent  visits  were  paid  to  that  neighborhood,  and 
especially  to  the  center  of  operations.  The  reception 
given  me  at  the  Sunday  School  concert  in  September, 
1864,  recognized  happy  relations.  There  was  a  salutation 
with  the  singing  of  four  stanzas  which  some  one  had  com¬ 
posed  for  the  occasion,  the  first  of  which  opened, — 

“Welcome,  welcome,  Pastor  dear, 

Welcome  ever,  welcome  here ; 

Welcome  to  our  homes  and  hearts.” 

After  the  employment  of  an  ordained  city  missionary 
commenced,  one  Sunday  service  with  preaching  was  main¬ 
tained  for  the  most  part,  successively  in  each  of  the  two 
sections  where  city-mission  work  was  carried  on.  Each 
of  the  two  chapels  built  by  the  Society  became  the  early 
home  of  a  new  church.  Midway  in  1868,  Rev.  Charles 
Mills,  a  wise  man,  a  faithful  and  acceptable  preacher,  was 
engaged  to  conduct  services  on  Parker  Street.  He  soon 
gave  his  written  opinion  that  the  time  had  come  for  the 
organization  of  another  church.  Early  in  1869  one  of 
our  prayer  meetings  was  specially  devoted  to  the  sub¬ 
ject.  At  nearly  the  same  time  the  Eliot  City  Missionary 
Society  adopted  a  resolution  that  whenever  a  church  is  duly 
organized  in  connection  with  the  Parker  Street  Chapel, 


174 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


the  Executive  Committee  will  recommend  to  the  Society 
to  transfer  the  property  on  that  street  to  the  new  enter¬ 
prise.  February  17,  a  letter  requesting  dismission  to  an 
ecclesiastical  council  was  presented  to  the  Eliot  Church. 
It  bore  forty-three  signatures.  All  the  petitioners  had  been 
received  during  my  pastorate,  eighteen  of  them  on  con¬ 
fession  of  faith,  and  three  I  baptized  in  infancy.  Mr. 
Moses  Henry  Day,  whose  name  headed  the  list  and  who 
for  eight  years  had  been  one  of  our  deacons,  spoke  warmly 
in  behalf  of  himself  and  others,  of  affection  for  the  church 
and  its  pastor,  the  only  pastor  he  had  ever  had.  He  re¬ 
peated  a  remark  of  a  female  friend  who  was  in  the  orig¬ 
inal  membership  of  the  Vine  Street  colony,  to  the  effect 
that  her  leaving  was  the  greatest  trial  of  her  life.  He 
could  now  say  the  same.  One  of  the  older  and  more 
prominent  men  in  the  retiring  company  expressed  the 
same  sentiment,  stating  that  this  was  the  sixth  church 
with  which  he  had  been  connected  during  a  period  of 
more  than  fifty  years,  and  that  this  had  proved  the  pleas¬ 
antest  of  all.  In  that  group  of  two-score  there  were  six 
nationalities  represented,  Norwegian,  Irish,  Scotch,  Eng¬ 
lish,  German  and  American ;  and  seven  religious  denomi¬ 
nations,  Old  Kirk  and  Free  Kirk  of  Scotland,  English 
Wesleyan,  Lutheran,  German  Reformed,  and  Congrega¬ 
tionalism  besides  one  individual  who  had  been  a  Roman 
Catholic.  Such  diversity,  however,  seemed  not  to  interfere 
with  harmony,  at  least  there  was  no  discord.  Before  the 
council  met,  one  who  had  signed  the  request  for  dismis- 


WALNUT  AVENUE  CHURCH. 


J7S 


sion,  Mr.  Andrew  H.  Murk,  died  and  his  widow  sent  a 
request  for  remembrance  in  public  prayer,  as  was  then 
customary.  The  council  for  recognizing  the  church  met 
March  3,  and  at  the  evening  service  I  preached  by  request 
on  the  fundamental  principles  of  Congregationalism. 

The  Eliot  Church  had  now  again  an  experience  of 
being  weakened,  and  by  the  withdrawment  of  a  larger 
number  of  members  than  in  the  previous  movement. 
There  was  a  mother’s  mingled  feeling  of  satisfaction  and 
of  sadness,  as  when  a  beloved  daughter  gives  the  good¬ 
bye  kiss  on  leaving  for  her  new  home  of  independence 
and  larger  responsibilities.  The  Highland  Congregation 
and  Sunday  School  began  at  once  to  increase,  the  latter 
enrolling  over  four  hundred  scholars  and  thirty-nine  teach¬ 
ers.  Rev.  Albert  E.  Dunning  was  installed  September 
29,  1870,  and  remained  pastor  till  December  25,  1880. 
His  successor,  Rev.  William  R.  Campbell,  came  to  the 
pastorate  October  12,  1881. 


3.  Walnut  Avenue  Church . 

The  first  swarm  of  bees  is  usually  slow  in  leaving  the 
hive.  The  next  two  swarms  are  more  prompt.  As  re¬ 
gards  the  sentiment  and  movement  of  colonies  the  Eliot 
Church  has  found  this  true.  We  had  been  growing  for 
nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century  before  a  kindred  organiza¬ 
tion  was  formed  on  Mt.  Pleasant.  The  sacred  number 
of  seven  years  thereafter  had  hardly  gone  by  when  I  be- 


176 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


gan  to  talk  about  another  movement  of  the  same  kind. 
Our  city  mission  work  and  the  growth  of  our  mission 
Sunday  School  on  Parker  Street  naturally  suggested  a 
result  similar  to  that  on  Vine  Street.  In  1865  the  matter 
became  one  of  a  good  deal  of  conversation,  and  the  ques¬ 
tion  was,  Shall  the  next  church  be  started  on  Parker 
Street  or  Walnut  Street,  since  known  as  Walnut  Avenue? 
It  was  not  long  before  a  question  arose,  Shall  there  not 
be  two  new  churches?  The  latter  was  advocated  at  more 
than  one  of  our  regular  weekly  meetings  in  the  year  just 
named.  In  December  the  matter  was  referred  to  a  com¬ 
mittee,  which  reported,  on  the  2 2d  of  that  month,  for 
substance  that  the  population  of  Roxbury  already  ex¬ 
ceeded  twenty-eight  thousand;  that  since  the  Vine  Street 
Church  was  opened  there  had  been  an  increase  of  about 
seven  thousand ;  and  that  in  each  of  the  two  places  of 
Congregational  worship  there  were  only  a  few  sittings  to 
be  had ;  that  a  Christian  readiness  to  meet  any  new 
exigency  by  hearty  and  self-sacrificing  cooperation  would 
be  a  pledge  of  continued  divine  favor  toward  us. 
Three  resolutions  favoring  church  extension  were  adopted, 
one  of  which  is  the  following :  “  Resolved \  That  while  we 
should  regret  to  part  with  so  valuable  a  portion  of  our 
membership,  we  still  hold  ourselves  ready,  whenever  mem¬ 
bers  feel  prepared  to  ask  dismission  with  a  view  to  being 
organized  into  a  new  church,  to  grant  the  same  cordially 
bidding  them  Godspeed,  pledging  our  sympathy  and 
prayers,  and  feeling  assured  that  we  in  turn  shall  enjoy 


WALNUT  AVENUE  CHURCH. 


177 


their  kind  and  unfailing  interest.”  This  was  something 
over  three  years  before  the  Highland  brotherhood  — 
the  first  of  two  then  in  mind  —  received  organized  form. 
The  favoring  sentiment  of  the  Eliot  Church  and  a  readi¬ 
ness  to  aid  continued. 

In  the  meantime,  indeed  almost  simultaneously,  a  sec¬ 
tion  of  our  members  were  arranging  for  a  similar  move¬ 
ment  on  Walnut  Avenue.  It  was  inevitable  that  the  pas¬ 
tor  of  any  church  should,  under  such  circumstances,  con¬ 
jecture  that  his  continued  presence  was  at  least  one  occa¬ 
sion  for  such  an  unprecedented  exodus  in  two  directions. 
Prominent  individuals  were  consulted.  A  written  state¬ 
ment,  avowing  readiness  to  resign,  if  that  would  be  for 
the  interest  of  the  Eliot  Church,  was  submitted  to  a 
meeting  of  the  deacons,  and  a  perfectly  frank  expression 
of  opinions  solicited.  The  conference  resulted  in  an  indi¬ 
vidual  and  collective  assurance  that  universal  respect  and 
nearly  universal  affection  was  felt  for  the  incumbent;  that 
there  was  no  reason  why  he  should  retire,  and  that  such 
a  step  would  bring  disaster.  One  of  the  calmest  and  most 
conspicuous  members  said  to  me  privately  that  if  I  re¬ 
signed  he  should  sell  his  property  and  remove  from  the 
city,  and  that  he  was  not  alone  in  that  conviction. 

In  the  Spring  of  1868  a  committee,  appointed  six 
months  previously,  reported  recommending  votes  in  favor 
of  a  church  on  Walnut  Avenue,  suggesting  as  a  locality, 
“  Near  Munroe  Street,”  and  further  that  we  would  dele¬ 
gate  some  of  our  members,  as  well  as  invite  the  Vine 


i78 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


Street  Church  to  do  the  same,  in  furtherance  of  the 
measure.  In  the  autumn  of  1869  the  daily  papers  an- 
nounced  meetings  that  had  reference  to  a  Congregational 
Society  in  the  neighborhood  of  Walnut  Avenue.  There 
was  not  only  no  quarrel,  but  there  was  no  schism  and  no 
unfriendly  feeling.  We  had  repeatedly  taken  action  ex¬ 
pressive  of  interest  in  the  matter  and  of  readiness  for 
•such  church  extension.  Public  worship  was  begun  in 
Highland  Hall  on  the  first  Sunday  of  October,  1870. 
Eighteen  of  the  thirty-one  teachers  in  our  Sunday  School, 
together  with  the  superintendent  and  ninety  of  the  schol¬ 
ars,  and  many  others  —  among  them  the  clerk  and  treas- 
urer  of  the  pew  proprietors,  as  well  as  six  out  of  seven  on 
the  Prudential  Committee  —  withdrew  to  the  place  named. 
It  had  privately  been  made  known  that  the  new  enter¬ 
prise  would  “  in  no  sense  be  a  colony  from  the  Eliot 
Church,  and  that  no  communication  would  be  made  to 
the  church  by  those  engaged  in  the  movement,  till  they 
should  ask  for  letters  of  dismission.”  An  infelicity  in  the 
initial  manner  of  this  movement  failed  to  interrupt  our 
expectations  and  prayers  for  its  success.  December  9 
seventy-one  of  our  members  were  dismissed  to  a  council 
called  for  the  nineteenth  of  that  month.  At  the  afternoon 
session  of  the  council  Dr.  Rufus  Anderson  made  a  state¬ 
ment  that  to  the  three  younger  brotherhoods  of  Boston 
Highlands  the  Eliot  Church  had  dismissed  a  total  of  one 
hundred  and  sixty-six  members,  of  which  ninety-eight  had 
been  received  by  letter,  and  sixty-eight  on  confession  of 


WALNUT  AVENUE  CHURCH. 


179 


faith,  all  of  whom  were  received  during  the  pastorate 
which  began  in  July,  1842;  that  the  admissions  since  that 
date  had  been  five  hundred  and  thirty  by  letter  and  four 
hundred  and  eighty  on  profession,  in  all  ten  hundred  and 
ten ;  that  dismissions  were  also  made  to  the  Shawmut 
Church,  Boston,  the  Harvard  Church,  Brookline,  and  the 
Church  of  Jamaica  Plain,  when  they  were  organized,  as 
well  as  subsequently  to  each  of  them ;  but  that  notwith¬ 
standing  these  losses  the  Eliot  Church  and  congregation 
were  still  larger  than  at  the  date  before  mentioned.  The 
annual  report  of  the  Examining  Committee  of  the  Church 
for  the  year  1870,  stated  that  while  the  superintendent, 
with  more  than  half  of  the  teachers  and  a  large  number 
of  scholars  in  our  Sunday  School,  were  a  part  of  the 
migration  to  Highland  Hall  October  first,  yet  the  subse¬ 
quent  attendance  had  been  the  same  as  for  the  whole 
year ;  and  further,  that  the  attendance  at  our  weekly 
church  meeting  during  the  same  three  months  had  not 
been  below  what  it  was  for  a  considerable  period  previously. 
It  was  added  that  amidst  the  recent  trial  of  parting  with 
so  many  valued  friends  the  tone  of  feeling  in  our  church 
was  of  a  gratifying  character ;  that  noteworthy  hopeful¬ 
ness  and  harmony  existed.  Of  the  three  hundred  and 
eighty-five  in  our  remaining  membership  more  than  one 
hundred  and  fifty  were  either  non-residents  or  not  worship¬ 
ping  with  us,  thus  leaving  a  virtual  membership  of  only 
about  two  hundred. 

The  aggregate  of  removals  within  less  than  two  years 


l8o  ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 

was  larger  than  ever  left  any  church  of  our  faith  and 
order  in  the  commonwealth  in  so  short  a  period.  It  is 
also  without  parallel  that,  in  the  course  of  thirteen  years 
any  church  of  the  same  denomination  in  Massachusetts, 
if  any  one  in  the  land,  had  sent  out  bodily  three  new 
churches,  each  a  good-sized,  vigorous  band,  giving  promise 
of  efficiency  and  success  such  as  have  followed.  This  is 
the  more  worthy  of  note,  as  between  the  years  1842  and 
1871  fifteen  of  our  Congregational  churches  in  Boston 
and  the  immediate  vicinity  had  lost  separate  existence. 
It  should  be  added  that  the  relations  of  the  Eliot  and 
the  Walnut  Avenue  churches  have  been  cordial,  that  no 
pastor  was  ever  more  heartily  welcomed  to  the  neighbor¬ 
hood,  or  ever  showed  himself  more  worthy  of  universal 
affection  than  our  Dr.  A.  H.  Plumb,  whose  pastorate  now 
exceeds  a  quarter  of  a  century. 

Being  requested  to  take  part  in  the  services  of  the 
twenty-fifth  anniversary  of  that  church,  I  was  glad  to  re¬ 
spond,  and,  at  the  close  of  an  extended  address,  was  glad 
to  say  what  might  be  said  of  each  one  in  the  four  that 
compose  our  goodly  Highland  fellowship: 

For  flattery  I  have  no  words;  for  congratulations,  many 
words.  In  view  of  the  prosperity  and  the  reputation  of 
this  brotherhood,  I  give  thanks,  and  bring  cordial  saluta¬ 
tion.  It  is  understood  that  you  are  social  without  being 
socialistic  ;  that  you  favor  Christian  union  without  the 
infusion  of  unchristian  elements ;  that  you  are  not  eager 
to  put  on  imported  garments,  some  of  them  soiled,  and 


WALNUT  AVENUE  CHURCH. 


181 


some  fatally  infected.  You  know  how  to  be  courageously 
firm  without  being  belligerent ;  you  propose  to  maintain 
“  unity  of  spirit  in  the  bond  ”  —  not  in  the  bond  of  sand- 
rope  laxity ;  not  by  assimilating  the  reputed  excellencies 
of  destructive  criticism,  or  the  supposed  good  things  in 
Brahminism,  Buddhism,  and  Mohammedanism,  but  “  en¬ 
deavoring  to  keep  the  unity  of  the  spirit  in  the  bond  of 
peace.”  Numerous  as  are  the  tribes  of  God’s  true  Israel, 
each  has  a  standard  of  its  own,  and  also  a  blessing  pecu¬ 
liar  to  itself ;  yet  there  is  but  one  law,  one  altar  of  sac¬ 
rifice,  one  mercy-seat.  You  hold  to  a  present  universal 
priesthood  of  believers,  not  to  sacerdotalism.  You  are  not 
in  the  habit  of  limiting  the  grace  of  Christ  to  sacraments, 
nor  of  extolling  the  sacraments  above  the  grace  wh’.ch 
may,  and  may  not  accompany  them.  Thank  God  this  is 
a  Church  which  does  not  concentrate  thought  exclusively 
upon  itself ;  a  missionary  Church  that  recognizes  as 
neighbor  the  man  who  launches  his  boat  on  the  Colum¬ 
bia  or  on  the  Rio  Grande,  on  the  Nile  or  on  the  Congo; 
on  the  Ganges  or  on  the  Euphrates. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


FELLOWSHIP  -  ECCLESIASTICAL  AND  MINISTERIAL. 

While  every  Congregational  Church  claims  parity 
of  rights  for  each  of  its  members,  and  its  own  parity  of 
rights  with  every  other  church,  it  accepts  as  fundamental 
the  right  and  need  of  fellowship  between  churches.  No 
particular  brotherhood  can  suitably  administer  its  internal 
affairs  and  carry  on  its  evangelistic  work  without  regard 
to  others  of  the  same  faith  and  order.  There  is  a  com¬ 
munity  of  interests  and  aims  that  makes  a  certain 
amount  of  fellowship  obligatory  as  truly  as  fellowship 
within  an  individual  church.  No  less  true  is  it  that  if 
one  member  in  a  denominational  group  suffer,  all  the 
members  suffer  with  it.  The  brethren  at  Antioch  are 
sure  to  have  need  sooner  or  later  of  sending  to  the  breth¬ 
ren  at  Jerusalem  for  counsel.  If  it  is  true  that  secular 
corporations  have  no  souls,  here  is  a  sacred  body  that 
should  be  all  soul  —  in  quick  sympathy  with  its  fellow 
Christian  bodies.  Congregational  churches  in  a  given 
vicinity  constitute  by  their  very  existence  an  Evangelical 
Alliance.  Each  is  a  divine  society,  controllable  by  no  out¬ 
side  authority  save  the  authority  of  Him  who  is  head  over 
all  things,  yet  each  is  under  bonds,  recognized  though 
invisible,  to  maintain  such  fraternal  intercourse  as  obvious 
relations  require.  Each  separate  organization  is  an  eccle- 


FELLOWSHIP. 


183. 


siastical  individual  supposed  never  to  stand  in  conceited, 
isolation,  but  gladly  recognizing  that  “In  the  multitude 
of  counsellors  there  is  wisdom.”  Such  cooperative  pro¬ 
cedure  is  consistent  with  all  reasonable  independence.. 
Each  of  the  twelve  tribes  has  its  own  distinctive  standard 
and  character,  while  there  is  but  one  host,  one  tabernacle,, 
one  altar  and  one  mercy-seat. 

In  the  Eliot  Church  there  has  never  been  any  seri¬ 
ous  division  and  still  less  any  quarrel.  During  the  period 
now  specially  under  review  (1842-1871)  there  was  no  occa¬ 
sion  to  call  a  council  except  for  the  ordination  and  instal¬ 
lation  of  the  second  pastor.  The  church  was,  however* 
invited  to  one  hundred  and  thirty  councils  —  nine  for  the 
organization  of  churches;  four  for  such  organization  and 
settlement  of  a  pastor ;  one  for  disbanding  a  church  ; 
seventy-one  for  settlement  of  pastors;  thirty-three  for  dis¬ 
mission  of  one  pastor  and  settlement  of  another;  twelve 
for  other  purposes. 

This  church  has  shared  regularly  and  profitably  in 
organized  fellowship,  such  as  has  been  furnished  since 
1861,  at  the  semi-annual  meetings  of  the  Suffolk  South 
Conference.  At  an  earlier  date  there  were  less  formal 
occasions  of  spontaneous  neighborhood  fellowship,  which 
were  a  delight  as  well  as  decidedly  helpful.  For  example* 
toward  the  close  of  1866  the  Vine  Street  Church  joined 
us  by  invitation  in  a  eucharist,  recognizing  the  special 
grace  of  God  to  us  that  year.  Just  one  hundred  mem¬ 
bers  had  been  added  to  our  number  that  twelve  month, 


184 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


sixty-nine  of  them  on  first  public  profession  of  faith.  Now 
and  then  tangible  tokens  evinced  Christian  regard.  In 
February,  1862,  occurred  the  dedication  of  a  little  chapel 
built  by  a  handful  of  Hollanders.  Three  languages  were 
used  in  the  service,  two  German  ministers  being  present 
besides  the  Dutch  pastor  and  half  a  dozen  American 
Congregationalists.  It  was  a  heroic  effort  by  which  those 
few  foreigners  supplied  themselves  with  a  place  of  worship. 
We  could  not  deny  ourselves  the  privilege  of  expressing 
sympathy  and  giving  some  assistance.  Men,  women  and 
children  all  told  amounted  to  only  a  little  over  a  hundred, 
yet  during  that  cold  season,  a  time  of  business  depres¬ 
sion,  and  though  strangers  in  a  strange  land,  they  built 
themselves  a  chapel.  None  of  them  received  more  than 
a  dollar  a  day.  Several  had  small  sums  in  the  savings 
bank.  Some,  if  not  all  of  them,  withdrew  their  deposits 
and  contributed  the  whole.  After  working  hard  all  day 
they  would  fish  for  smelts  by  night  in  the  Back  Bay.  A 
friend  of  ours  supported  for  a  time  their  excellent  pastor, 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Van  der  Kreeke. 

At  the  installation  of  Rev.  E.  E.  Strong  over  the 
John  Eliot  Church  of  South  Natick,  I  presented  to  that 
brotherhood,  in  behalf  of  the  Eliot  Church,  Roxbury,  a 
pulpit  Bible  and  Hymn-Book;  and  on  another  occasion 
our  ladies  presented  a  silver  communion  service  to  the 
beloved  band  which  formed  the  Vine  Street  Church. 
These  and  like  things  confirmed  pleasant  relations,  and 
called  forth  gratifying  reciprocal  expressions. 


FELLOWSHIP. 


I85 

When  Dr.  Anderson  and  myself  started  (1853)  on  a 
deputational  visit  to  missions  in  India,  the  Eliot  Church 
handed  us  a  letter  of  warm  Christian  greeting  to  churches 
in  that  land,  which  were  under  the  care  of  the  American 
Board.  At  the  same  time  a  member  of  the  congregation 
gave  me  privately  a  sum  of  money  to  be  spent  at  my  dis¬ 
cretion  on  our  mission  fields.  It  enabled  me  to  furnish, 
where  there  was  special  need,  more  than  one  native 
church  with  a  plain  sacramental  service.  In  twelve  in¬ 
stances  the  letter-missive,  which  had  been  translated  into 
Marathi  and  Tamil,  was  communicated  with  the  very 
happiest  effect.  The  interval  of  more  than  ten  thousand 
miles  was  no  bar  to  a  glow  of  spiritual  fellowship.  A 
reacting  stimulus  took  place  when  word  was  sent  home, 
“  The  churches  of  Asia  salute  you.” 

Among  pastors  and  certain  other  ministers  there 
was  much  hearty  and  hallowed  communion.  Sometimes 
upon  the  suggestion  of  one  in  their  circle  who  felt  specially 
moved  to  that  end,  it  took  the  form  of  a  Retreat.  Such 
private  reunions  for  prayer,  for  the  contemplation  of  Scrip¬ 
ture  truth  and  the  unfolding  of  personal  experience,  were 
peculiarly  sacred.  Heart  touched  heart  as  at  no  other 
time.  With  a  little  less  freedom,  yet  without  publicity, 
were  such  gatherings  as,  for  example,  that  of  a  pastoral 
association  of  Boston  and  vicinity,  in  January,  1847.  -A 
day  was  devoted  quietly  to  associated  prayer  with  fasting, 
in  the  vestry  of  Old  South  Church.  Coming  together  at 
ten  o’clock  in  the  forenoon  the  brethren  remained  in  ses- 


i86 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


sion,  except  a  half-hour’s  recess,  till  past  the  middle  of 
the  afternoon.  It  was  a  day  memorable  for  earnestness, 
freedom  and  tenderness  of  religious  intercourse.  The 
savor  of  holy  sympathies  that  were  awakened,  and  the 
descent  of  magnetism  from  beyond  the  clouds,  were  a 
lasting  benediction. 

Pulpit  interchanges  were  one  obvious  form  of  fellow¬ 
ship,  a  fellowship  at  once  clerical  and  semi-ecclesiastical. 
Such  exchanges  were  chiefly  with  brethren  in  the  neigh¬ 
borhood,  and  for  only  one  of  the  public  Lord’s  Day  ser¬ 
vices.  When  such  exchanges  were  with  Drs.  N.  Adams, 
Kirk,  Plumb,  Laurie,  J.  H.  Means,  and  J.  O.  Means, 
special  gratification  was  pretty  sure  to  be  expressed  by 
many  in  the  congregation.  The  prevailing  sentiment 
seemed  to  be  what  is  embodied  in  a  Tamil  proverb,  “No 
matter  who  pounds  it  if  it  is  rice.”  Occasionally  an 
arrangement  for  both  parts  of  the  day  occurred  and  with 
a  brother  at  some  distance.  In  such  cases  I  always  went 
the  Saturday  before.  On  the  way  to  Braintree  for  an 
exchange  with  Dr.  R.  S.  Storrs,  Sr.,  I  encountered  a 
specimen  of  supreme  Yankee  inquisitiveness.  A  seat- 
mate  in  the  car  asked:  “Stop  at  Braintree?”  “Yes.” 
“  Know  Dr.  Storrs  ?  ”  “  O  yes  !  ”  “  Smart  old  man. 

Does  he  preach  at  home  tomorrow?”  “No,  I  exchange 
with  him.”  “  Well  now,  I  reckoned  you  was  a  preacher 
when  I  first  saw  you.  Where  do  you  preach  when  you 
are  at  home  ?  ”  “  Roxbury.”  “  Pshaw,  I  married  in  Rox- 

bury.  What  name  might  you  have  ?  ”  “  Thompson.” 


FELLOWSHIP. 


1:87 


“  D’  ye  know  Anderson  ?  Smart  fellow.”  At  that  moment 
the  conductor  called  out  Braintree  to  the  relief  of  at 
least  one  passenger.  In  one  instance  an  unusually  unin¬ 
teresting  minister  occupied  our  Eliot  pulpit  in  the  fore¬ 
noon,  and  it  was  supposed  would  do  so  in  the  afternoon. 
A  lady  declared  it  was  unendurable,  and  she  must  have 
something  better.  Accordingly  under  a  broiling  July  sun 
she  walked  to  the  Pine  Street  Church,  then  the  nearest 
in  Boston,  in  order  to  hear  Dr.  Austin  Phelps.  To  her 
dismay,  she  had  to  listen  to  the  same  preacher  and  the 
same  sermon  which  disgusted  her  earlier  in  the  day. 
Petty  embarrassments  would  sometimes  occur,  owing  to 
a  want  of  uniformity  among  our  churches  in  the  order 
and  number  of  parts  in  a  service.  In  one  instance  there 
being  needlessly  two  different  collections  of  hymns  at 
hand,  I  made  selection  from  the  wrong  book.  At  one 
period  and  in  one  of  the  city  churches  it  was  customary 
for  a  leading  man  in  the  musical  world  to  select  a  hymn 
to  follow  the  sermon,  and  place  the  number  in  conspicu¬ 
ous  figures  on  the  front  of  the  organ.  The  preacher, 
whatever  his  own  preference,  was  expected  to  accept 
this  annoying  dictation.  On  an  exchange  a  note  from 
one  of  the  pastors  ran  as  follows :  “  Our  choir  can  sing 
anything  you  may  select,  with  about  equal  bad  taste,  dis¬ 
cord  and  confusion.” 

Of  preachers  who  at  my  request  kindly  occupied  the 
pulpit,  making  a  noteworthy  impression,  several  come  to 
recollection  with  special  distinctness.  Some  of  them  were 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


1 88 

foreigners,  as  Pastor  Fisch  of  Paris ;  also  Rev.  Mr.  Chal¬ 
mers,  a  nephew  of  Dr.  Thomas  Chalmers,  a  member  of 
the  Deputation  from  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland,  soon 
after  the  disruption.  We  took  up  a  collection  in  aid  of 
their  sustentation  fund.  Twice  we  had  the  pleasure  of 
listening  to  Dr.  Lord,  President  of  Dartmouth  College, 
one  of  whose  sons  was  at  that  time  worshiping  with  us* 
Rev.  William  G.  T.  Shedd,  d.  d.,  ll.  d.,  then  a  professor 
at  Andover,  preached  for  me  two  or  three  times.  He  had 
but  little  action ;  was  perfectly  free  from  everything  mere¬ 
tricious  and  apparently  from  all  thought  of  himself.  He 
furnished  a  fine  illustration  of  the  power  of  lucid  thinking 
and  cogent  reasoning,  clothed  in  language  devoid  of  a 
single  superfluous  word,  to  hold  the  fixed  attention  of 
every  one  in  the  congregation. 

The  last  time  Dr.  Lyman  Beecher  preached  for  me 
he  exhibited  some  of  the  signs  of  advanced  years.  Of 
oratorical  graces  there  were  none;  but  once  well  on  in 
his  discourse,  up  went  the  spectacles  to  the  top  of  his 
head,  and  up  roused  the  slumbering  giant  to  something 
of  his  earlier  force  and  to  the  evident  gratification  of  all 
present.  After  the  service  I  accompanied  him  to  the 
porch,  where  his  old  friend,  Dr.  Anderson,  gave  the  greet¬ 
ing,  “  Dr.  Beecher,  may  you  live  forever !  ”  “I  ’spect  to,” 
replied  the  old  man. 

Most  of  the  returned  foreign  missionaries,  who  accom¬ 
panied  me  to  the  pulpit,  were  heard  with  great  acceptance. 
Such,  for  example,  was  Dr.  Lindley  from  South  Africa. 


FELLOWSHIP. 


189- 


Dr.  Thomas  Laurie  was  always  listened  to  with  marked 
attention  and  profit.  He  had  been  supplying  the  pulpit 
when  I  came  to  Roxbury  in  1842,  and  was  then  under 
appointment  as  a  missionary  to  Persia.  Although  he  had 
not  quite  attained  to  majority,  he  was  a  man  of  power. 
The  same  characteristics  as  a  preacher  showed  them¬ 
selves  then  as  after  his  return  and  in  the  later  years  of 
his  ministry  —  modesty,  self-forgetfulness,  an  ardor  glowing 
in  his  own  soul  that  kindled  responsive  warmth,  and  even 
fire.  North  Britain  has  perhaps  sent  no  man  to  this 
country  who  brought  more  of  the  Ingenium  praefer- 
vidum  Scotorum.  Several  of  the  most  intelligent  mem¬ 
bers  of  the  church  have  told  me  that  they  were  never  so 
much  moved  and  elevated  by  the  unction  of  any  man’s 
prayers  as  by  his. 

Another  was  the  Rev.  Dr.  William  Goodell  of  Con¬ 
stantinople,  when  at  home  on  a  furlough.  He  made  no 
attempt  at  oratory.  His  style  was  chaste.  Seriousness 
and  earnestness  characterized  every  part  of  the  service. 
At  the  same  time  an  occasional  sub-tincture  of  quaint¬ 
ness  or  of  unpremeditated  humor  would  relax  the  features 
of  a  delighted  audience.  No  listener  could  forget  him  or 
forget  the  Turks.  I  said  to  him,  “  Father  Goodell,  what 
is  to  be  the  future  of  the  Turkish  Empire?”  “That,” 
said  he,  “is  a  question  I  put  to  Lord  Stratford  de  Red- 
cliff  e,  and  his  answer  was,  ‘  It  depends  very  much  upon 
the  divine  decrees.’  ” 

Dr.  Daniel  Poor,  after  reaching  home  on  his  furlough. 


igo 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


spent  the  first  Sabbath  with  me.  Being  introduced  to 
the  audience,  he  rose  and  without  naming  chapter  or 
book  said,  in  a  clear  tone  and  with  much  deliberation, 
“  The  churches  of  Asia  salute  you ;  ”  turning  to  the  right, 
“  The  churches  of  Asia  salute  you ;  ”  then  again  to  the 
left,  “  The  churches  of  Asia  salute  you.”  By  that  time 
old  and  young  were  ready  to  rise  from  their  seats  and 
return  the  salutation.  “  First  Corinthians,  sixteenth  chap¬ 
ter,  nineteenth  verse,”  was  announced  as  the  text  ;  and 
the  most  riveted  attention  was  given  him  till  the 
close  of  a  narrative  discourse.  Six  years  after  that,  as 
suffering  from  sick-headache  I  reclined  on  a  lounge  at 
Manepy  in  Ceylon,  Mrs.  Poor,  who  had  just  become  a 
widow,  placed  a  pillow  under  my  head  and  observed, 
“You  are  lying  where  Dr.  Poor  died.”  His  last  whis¬ 
pered  words  were,  “Joy,  Joy!  Hallelujah!”  and  I  thought, 
What  a  salutation  must  ransomed  natives  have  given  the 
dear  man  as  he  joined  them  on  high ! 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


CHAPTER  XV. 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 

The  history  of  any  church  or  society  without  pen 
photographs  of  prominent  members  will  be  incomplete. 
Such  members  never  fail  to  give  tone  to  an  organization, 
and  especially  in  its  earlier  days.  Modification  of  the 
type  first  taken  on  is  seldom  effected  soon.  In  the 
primitive  years  of  the  Eliot  Church  and  Society  leading 
men  were  characterized  by  superior  intelligence  and  sound 
judgment.  The  lists  of  individuals  which  follow  are  by 
no  means  exhaustive  of  names  entitled  to  commemora¬ 
tive  record.  They  are  arranged  with  regard  to  corre¬ 
spondence  in  position,  profession,  and  the  like,  or  with 
regard  to  the  order  of  time.  Material  at  hand  has  had 
influence  in  determining  the  selection  of  names.  It  will 
be  particularly  noticed  that  these  friends  were  in  the 
church  or  congregation  prior  to  the  autumn  of  1871,  at 
which  time  Dr.  B.  F.  Hamilton  became  the  associate  pas¬ 
tor.  Some  of  them  remained  here  for  a  longer  or  shorter 
time  after  that  date. 


THE  DIACONATE. 

The  Congregational  churches  of  New  England  have 
from  the  first  owed  much  to  those  holding  this  office. 
No  set  of  men,  save  ministers  of  the  Word,  have  as  a 


196 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


the  summer  of  the  year  following,  his  house  became  the 
rendezvous  for  those  who  were  interested  in  the  proposed 
enterprise.  His  house  remained  always  most  hospitable. 

The  first  meeting  of  the  Eliot  Society  was  called  to 
order  by  him,  and  as  chairman  of  a  committee  he  pre¬ 
sented  a  code  of  by-laws  for  the  government  of  the  same. 
From  that  time  onward  during  many  years  he  held  ofifice 
of  some  kind  in  the  Society.  He  was  chosen  one  of  the 
first  two  deacons  of  the  church,  November  6,  1834,  and 
for  over  two  score  years  faithfully  discharged  the  duties 
of  that  office. 

He  was  chosen  superintendent  of  the  Eliot  Sunday 
School  at  the  time  of  its  organization,  a  position  which 
he  had  held  for  seven  years  in  connection  with  one  of 
the  largest  similar  schools  in  Boston.  In  this  office  he 
continued  for  a  quarter  of  a  century,  and  on  retiring  from 
that  post  (1859)  he  took  charge  of  a  Bible  class  of  young 
ladies,  which  was  retained  by  him  till  the  day  of  his 
death,  at  the  age  of  seventy-seven.  Mount  Vernon,  N.  H., 
was  his  birthplace. 

There  was  never  occasion  to  record  against  Mr.  Kit- 
tredge  needless  absence  or  tardiness  at  any  engagement, 
secular  or  religious.  During  the  first  eight  years  of  the 
Roxbury  City  Government  he  was  a  member  of  the  Com¬ 
mon  Council  or  the  Board  of  Aldermen.  He  was  one  of 
the  chief  originators  of  our  beautiful  Forest  Hills  Ceme¬ 
tery,  earnestly  advocating  the  purchase  of  a  tract  of  land 
for  that  purpose.  He  was  for  fifteen  years  Chairman  of 


THE  DIACONATE. 


I97 


the  Commissioners,  and  then  President  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees  till  his  death.  From  the  first  his  time  was 
largely  devoted,  and  at  length  almost  exclusively  devoted 
to  the  cemetery.  For  many  years  he  was  superintendent 
of  that  attractive  place  of  sepulture,  and  all  his  services 
were  entirely  gratuitous.  His  own  interment  there  did 
not  occur  till  more  than  fifteen  thousand  interments  had 
taken  place  in  the  same  sacred  inclosure.  The  total 
number  of  interments  up  to  the  present  time  exceeds 
thirty-one  thousand. 

Mr.  Kittredge  was  an  unaffectedly  modest  man  — 
never  forward,  yet  never  shrinking  from  duty.  Decided 
without  being  opinionated  he  was  acknowledged  to  be  a 
wise  counsellor,  and  one  of  the  very  pleasantest  of  men 
to  work  with.  His  smile,  frequent  and  genial,  lighted 
up  a  countenance  always  pleasing;  but  he  never  laughed 
boisterously.  Before  his  decease  he  had  seen  over  twelve 
hundred  welcomed  to  membership  in  the  Eliot  Church, 
and  an  aggregate  of  nearly  a  thousand  gathered  into  the 
three  young  church  families,  which  went  out  from  this 
central  home. 

Mr.  Kittredge  was  a  humble,  devout,  consistent  Chris¬ 
tian.  The  great  spiritual  crisis  took  place  when  he  was 
twelve  years  of  age.  He  himself,  his  family,  the  Eliot 
Church,  and  the  world  at  large  owe  not  a  little  to  a 
believing  New  Hampshire  mother. 


198 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


2.  WILLIAM  G.  LAMBERT. 

Another  of  the  two  officers  first  elected  was  Mr. 
Lambert.  He  came  from  Rowley  at  sixteen  years  of  age, 
having  prepared  for  college,  but  weak  eyes  obliged  him 
to  give  up  study.  He  first  connected  himself  with  the 
Park  Street  Church.  His  services  and  influence  in  the 
Eliot  Church  were  highly  valued,  and  when  he  removed 
to  New  York  (1839)  no  little  regret  was  felt. 

Deacon  Lambert  was  one  of  the  original  members  of 
the  Broadway  Tabernacle  Church  in  1840.  Connected 
with  his  removal  from  the  Eliot  Church  there  was  a  pecu¬ 
liarity.  The  letter  of  recommendation  bore  date  August 
7,  1840,  but  Deacon  Lambert’s  formal  resignation  of  the 
office  which  he  had  held  did  not  take  place  till  the  fol¬ 
lowing  year,  1841.  By  the  transfer  of  membership  the 
official  position  lapsed  necessarily.  No  one  can  properly 
hold  that  office  in  a  church  of  which  he  is  not  a  member. 
The  mistake  on  the  part  of  Deacon  Lambert  was  that  in 
requesting  dismission  he  did  not  at  the  same  time  com¬ 
municate  his  resignation  of  office. 

In  New  York,  Deacon  Lambert  held  many  respon¬ 
sible  positions  in  financial  and  commercial  enterprises. 
He  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Equitable  Life  In¬ 
surance  Company.  Not  long  after  removing  to  that  city 
he  joined  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  in  Brooklyn,  but 
subsequently  renewed  his  connection  with  the  Tabernacle 
Church,  and  there  held  the  office  of  deacon  for  many 


THE  DIACONATE. 


1 99 


years,  indeed  till  his  death,  December  24,  1882.  Among 
the  resolutions  adopted  by  the  church  in  New  York  at 
that  time  are  the  two  following : 

“  Be  it  Resolved ,  That  while  we  mourn  our  loss,  we  give  hearty 
thanks  to  our  Heavenly  Father  that  he  has  so  long  spared  to  us  a 
beloved  and  revered  office-bearer,  and  favored  us  for  so  many  years 
with  his  presence  and  counsel,  preserving  him  to  a  good  old  age  with 
all  his  faculties  in  vigorous  exercise,  so  that,  in  spite  of  his  more  than 
four-score  years,  we  can  almost  say  of  him  as  of  the  Hebrew  lawgiver, 
‘  His  eye  was  not  dim,  nor  his  natural  force  abated.’ 

“  Resolved ,  That  we  cherish  Deacon  Lambert’s  memory  as  a 
wise  counsellor,  a  faithful  friend,  an  earnest  worker  in  the  church,  and 
an  humble,  consistent  follower  of  the  Saviour.” 1 


3.  HENRY  HILL. 

Three  years  after  the  church  was  organized  Mr. 
Henry  Hill  became  a  member.  He  came  from  the  Park 
Street  Church,  where  his  position  was  one  of  prominence, 
and  not  long  after  removing  to  Roxbury  he  was  elected 
deacon  in  this  new  connection.  He  was  then  in  the 
prime  of  life,  having  been  born  in  Newburgh,  N.  Y.,  Jan¬ 
uary  10,  1795.  Owing  to  a  change  in  his  father’s  business, 
he  relinquished  preparation  for  college,  on  which  he  had 
been  engaged  for  more  than  a  year,  and  removing  to 
New  York  City,  became  at  fifteen  clerk  in  a  large  mer¬ 
cantile  house.  Instead  of  attending  the  theater  and  other 
places  of  amusement,  he  devoted  himself  to  acquiring 


‘Year-Book  of  the  Broadway  Tabernacle  Church  for  1882,  p.  7. 


2  00 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


the  French  and  Spanish  languages,  in  both  of  which  he 
became  proficient.  His  capacity  for  business  and  his 
sound  judgment  were  early  developed ;  hence  at  twenty 
years  of  age  he  went  to  France  as  supercargo  to  pur¬ 
chase  silks  and  other  goods  in  Paris,  and  two  years  later 
was  sent  as  agent  of  his  firm  to  Buenos  Ayres  and 
Chili. 

Mr.  Hill’s  religious  life  and  his  kindliness  were  also 
early  developed.  On  the  voyage  to  South  America,  he 
gave  lessons  to  the  sailors  in  reading  and  writing;  dis¬ 
tributed  Bibles  and  tracts  among  them ;  conducted  a 
religious  service  on  deck  every  Sunday  when  the  weather 
allowed,  and  at  times  visited  the  forecastle  to  read  and 
talk  with  the  men.  At  Valparaiso  he  established  a  mer¬ 
cantile  house  —  his  accounts  being  kept  in  Spanish  — 
and  was  soon  appointed  United  States  Consul  for  that 
city  and  Santiago.  During  the  three  and  a  half  years’ 
residence  at  the  former  place,  he  traveled  extensively, 
and  must  have  been  one  of  the  first  men,  if  not  the  very 
first  from  our  country,  to  make  a  trip  on  horseback  across 
the  Andes. 

On  returning  to  the  United  States,  Mr.  Hill  had 
tempting  offers  of  business  arrangements  in  Peru  and 
New  York;  but  he  was  desirous  of  finding  some  position 
more  directly  connected  with  the  cause  of  Christ.  Divine 
Providence  opened  the  way  for  his  appointment  as  treas¬ 
urer  of  the  American  Board,  and  accordingly  he  removed 
to  Boston  (1822)  one  year  after  its  incorporation  as  a  city. 


THE  DIACONATE. 


201 


For  that  office  his  business  tact  and  wide  business  acquaint¬ 
ance  qualified  him  eminently,  and  during  the  thirty-two 
years  that  he  held  it  more  than  six  millions  of  dollars  passed 
through  his  hands.  On  retiring  from  the  post  at  sixty 
years  of  age,  he  made  a  thank-offering  to  the  Board,  that 
he  had  had  the  privilege  of  serving  so  long  as  its  treas¬ 
urer.  The  amount  was  two  thousand  dollars,  a  sum  not 
saved  from  his  salary,  but  accruing  from  another  source. 

As  a  member  and  officer  of  the  Eliot  Church,  Mr. 
Hill  was  one  who  neither  gave  nor  took  offense.  Always 
in  his  place  he  was  neither  officious  nor  backward.  He 
maintained  a  happy  medium  between  coldness  and  exces¬ 
sive  emotion.  In  council  calm,  clear,  judicious,  he  mani¬ 
fested  no  conceit  and  no  irritability.  As  one  of  the  orig¬ 
inal  members  of  the  Vine  Street,  now  Immanuel  Church, 
he  took  a  leading  part  in  its  formation  and  its  early 
growth.  One  of  his  memoranda  relative  to  leaving  our 
connection  reads  as  follows :  —  “I  was  perhaps  too  happy 
there.  .  .  To  leave  that  home  of  my  choice,  my  pastor, 

my  brother  deacons,  the  Eliot  Church  and  Society,  friends 
such  as  I  never  expected  to  find  again  this  side  of  heaven. 
Oh !  if  I  ever  made  a  sacrifice  it  was  when  I  consented 
to  join  the  little  band  of  twenty-six  to  form  the  Vine 
Street  Church.” 

Socially,  Mr.  Hill  was  never  frivolous,  but  always 
genial  and  a  most  agreeable  companion.  The  Eliot 
Church  has,  perhaps,  never  had  a  member  who  more 
happily  combined  gentleness  and  decision,  or  who  was 


202 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


more  truly  a  Christian  gentleman.  He  was  a  man  of 
great  regularity  in  habits  of  industry,  temperance  and 
general  self-control.  Ardent  spirits,  tobacco,  highly  sea¬ 
soned  and  very  rich  diet  he  eschewed.  Such  regimen 
contributed  largely  no  doubt  to  his  serene  and  beautiful 
old  age.  He  lived  ninety-seven  years. 


4.  REV.  WILLIAM  WARD  DAVENPORT. 

“  They  that  have  used  the  office  of  a  deacon  well 
purchase  to  themselves  a  good  degree.”  That  was  em¬ 
phatically  true  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Davenport.  He  was  for 
five  years  a  deacon  in  the  Eliot  Church,  and  by  universal 
consent  filled  the  office  with  unusual  wisdom  and  accept¬ 
ance.  That  a  “  good  degree  ”  followed  will  appear  in  the 
course  of  this  sketch. 

His  parents  were  valued  members  of  the  Old  South 
Church,  Boston,  his  mother  being  a  daughter  of  the 
Rev.  Ephraim  Ward  of  West  Brookfield,  Massachu¬ 
setts.  Upon  graduating  from  the  Franklin  Grammar 
School  and  the  English  High  School,  Mr.  Davenport  re¬ 
ceived  in  each  instance  a  medal  for  excellence  in  scholar¬ 
ship  and  deportment.  A  voyage  to  China  and  another  to 
Batavia  gave  him  some  personal  acquaintance  with  busi¬ 
ness  in  foreign  countries.  As  civil  engineer  he  was  en¬ 
gaged  in  the  primary  survey  for  introducing  the  Cochit- 
uate  water  into  Boston,  after  which  he  entered  a  whole¬ 
sale  dry-goods  house,  where  he  remained  as  clerk  and 
then  as  partner  for  about  twenty  years. 


THE  DIACONATE. 


203 


His  religious  character  took  its  coloring  in  part  from 
deep  conviction  of  sin  and  a  clear  apprehension  of  free 
forgiveness  through  the  merits  of  Jesus  Christ.  The 
great  truths  of  our  holy  religion,  including  righteous  con¬ 
demnation  for  sin,  the  need  of  regenerating  grace,  of  holy 
living,  and  a  love  that  leads  to  Christian  activities,  held  a 
controlling  and  ever-growing  influence  over  Mr.  Davenport. 
No  pressure  of  business  cares  interrupted  his  religious 
endeavors  in  neglected  sections  of  the  city.  He  also  con¬ 
ducted  prayer  meetings  and  other  religious  services  in  the 
Mariner’s  Church,  the  State  Prison,  Chelsea  Hospital 
and  elsewhere.  For  a  series  of  years  he  was  Secretary  of 
the  Boston  Sabbath  School  Union  and  wrote  its  annual 
reports.  For  yet  a  longer  period  he  was  Secretary  and 
Director  of  the  Penitent  Female  Refuge,  where  he  con¬ 
ducted  on  the  Lord’s  Day  a  service,  and  where  a  week¬ 
day  service  begun  by  him  still  continues.  The  prayer 
meeting  which  led  to  the  formation  of  Shawmut  Church 
was  one  in  which  he  took  an  active  part. 

On  removing  from  the  Old  South  Church  to  the 
Eliot  Church  in  1848,  he  was  at  once  recognized  as  a 
highly  valuable  accession.  Always  ready  for  any  appro¬ 
priate  share  in  devotional  meetings  and  outside  labors,  he 
was  never  obtrusive,  never  given  to  talking  about  him¬ 
self  or  his  own  doings,  but  modest,  discreet  and  earnest. 
He  early  took  charge  of  a  Bible  Class  of  young  men, 
which  was  conducted  with  great  profit  to  them.  Even¬ 
ings  which  brought  no  special  engagement,  and  other 


204 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


spare  hours,  were  given  to  a  devout  and  careful  study  of 
God’s  Word.  Upon  the  retirement  of  Mr.  Henry  Hill  from 
being  an  office-bearer,  1857,  there  was  a  prompt  unanimity 
in  electing  Mr.  Davenport  to  the  place.  Wise  in  counsel, 
punctual  in  all  engagements,  he  enjoyed  the  confidence 
and  affection  of  all. 

At  length  Mr.  Davenport  came  to  me  for  consultation 
in  regard  to  preparing  for  the  ministry.  Without  re¬ 
ceiving  discouragement  he  was  advised  to  let  the  decision 
depend  upon  a  clear,  divine  intimation  whether  it  favored 
or  dissuaded.  The  main  elements  that  constitute  a  call 
of  God  to  the  work  were  discussed.  Two  months  later 
he  became  fully  convinced  that,  although  forty-two  years 
of  age  and  engaged  with  agreeable  associates  in  an  easy 
business  that  promised  an  accumulation  of  wealth,  he 
set  his  face  toward  the  sacred  office.  More  than  two 
years  were  devoted  to  a  course  of  study  similar  to  what 
was  pursued  at  our  theological  seminaries.  The  Greek 
grammar  was  mastered  and  portions  of  the  New  Testa¬ 
ment  were  read  in  the  original  language.  The  study  of 
Hebrew  was  begun,  and  some  acquaintance  with  parts  of 
the  Old  Testament  in  that  tongue  was  secured.  System¬ 
atic  Theology  received  special  attention ;  also  Homiletics. 
Nor  was  Church  History  neglected.  On  these  lines  an 
hour  was  spent  with  me  six  days  in  the  week  for  the 
period  just  named.  It  was  a  special  advantage  to  Mr. 
Davenport  that  he  had  a  well  trained,  logical  mind ;  that 
for  many  years  he  had  cultivated  the  habit  of  a  careful 


THE  DIACONATE. 


205 


use  of  the  pen,  contributing  articles  to  religious  papers 
and  to  the  Panoplist,  of  which  he  was  at  one  time  the 
editor. 

Not  long  after  licensure  by  the  Suffolk  South  Asso¬ 
ciation  of  ministers,  he  supplied  the  pulpit  of  one  of  the 
most  prominent  city  churches  in  New  England,  for  a 
single  Sabbath,  the  pastor  being  absent.  The  people 
at  once  took  action  —  an  unusual  thing  —  passing  a  com¬ 
plimentary  vote  and  communicating  the  same  to  him. 
In  1861  he  was  ordained  and  installed  pastor  of  the  Con¬ 
gregational  Church  in  Danielsonville,  then  the  largest  rural 
church  in  Connecticut.  There  he  remained  an  acceptable 
and  successful  preacher  as  well  as  devoted  pastor  for  fully 
seven  years. 

By  general  consent  Mr.  Davenport  was  a  godly  man, 
unswerving  in  loyalty  to  the  doctrines  of  grace,  but 
kindly  considerate  of  the  feelings  of  those  who  differed 
from  him.  He  was  highly  esteemed  by  neighboring  min¬ 
isterial  brethren.  He  took  broad  views  concerning  the 
sphere  of  clerical  duty ;  foreign  missions  had  a  warm 
place  in  his  thoughts,  and  he  became  a  corporate  mem¬ 
ber  of  the  American  Board.  But  his  chief  aim  was  to 
“  Feed  the  flock  of  God,”  to  which  he  had  been  set  apart 
as  shepherd.  A  member  of  that  flock  spoke  for  more 
than  one  when  he  pronounced  Mr.  Davenport,  “  The 
most  instructive  preacher  I  ever  heard.”  But  health  be¬ 
gan  to  fail.  Pulmonary  disease,  to  which  there  had  been 
an  obvious  liability,  was  developed.  Under  medical  advice 


2o6 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


he  went  to  Pau  in  France,  where,  after  a  few  months,  he 
died,  May  20,  1870,  in  the  fifty-fifth  year  of  his  age.  When 
the  vine-clad  hills  of  southern  France  shall  give  up  their 
dead,  there  will  be  early  witnesses  to  Christ’s  cross  and 
crown,  martyrs  of  primitive  times,  but  no  one  of  that  age 
or  any  subsequent  period  more  intelligently  and  firmly 
grounded  in  Christian  faith  than  our  friend  and  brother. 


5.  ANDREW  s.  MARCH. 

Mr.  March  was  born  in  Portland,  Me.,  February  27, 
18 1 1,  and  was  baptized  in  infancy  by  Dr.  Edward  Payson. 
His  widowed  mother  placed  him  when  twelve  years  of  age 
in  a  dry-goods  store  in  Portland.  Not  long  after  that  he 
came  to  Boston,  and  was  employed  by  one  of  the  larger  dry- 
goods  concerns  of  this  city.  On  attaining  majority  he  en¬ 
gaged  in  business  independently  with  James  M.  Whiton,  and 
the  firm  of  Whiton  &  March  was  well  known  for  many 
years. 

Mr.  March,  coming  from  Park  Street  Church,  was  also 
one  of  the  original  and  highly  esteemed  members  of  the 
Eliot  Church.  His  services  in  the  diaconate  were  from 
1845  to  1851,  when  he  removed  to  West  Roxbury.  He  was 
a  man  of  even  temper,  of  marked  self-control ;  a  peacemaker 
endowed  with  a  happy  tact  in  reconciling  differences,  both 
in  the  church  and  in  the  political  caucus.  By  knowing  what 
not  to  say,  and  by  a  conciliatory  and  shrewd  way  of  putting 
things,  he  would  generally  succeed  in  carrying  a  point  with- 


THE  DIACONATE. 


207 


out  losing  the  respect  or  good  will  of  others.  In  domestic 
life  his  manner  was  invariably  equable,  gentle,  and  yet 
accompanied  by  a  decision  that  secured  willing  deference. 

He  once  told  the  writer  that  on  making  public  profes¬ 
sion  of  Christian  faith  he  resolved  never  to  shrink  from  any 
duty  imposed  upon  him.  His  fidelity  and  punctuality  could 
be  depended  on.  Whatever  uncertainty  there  might  be 
regarding  any  other  person,  there  was  none  regarding  An¬ 
drew  March.  One  characteristic  incident  showed  the  man. 
Leaving  horse  and  sleigh  for  a  moment  at  the  door  one  cold 
evening — -the  evening  for  the  stated  church  meeting  —  he 
stepped  into  the  house  to  get  a  robe.  Returning,  he  found 
horse  and  sleigh  were  gone.  He  then  started  a  man-servant 
in  one  direction ;  stopped  on  his  way  at  the  house  of  a 
brother-in-law,  whom  he  started  in  another  direction ;  and 
with  quick  step  was  just  in  season  at  the  chapel.  About 
to  open  the  door  he  cast  a  glance  toward  the  neighboring 
shed,  and  there  saw  horse  and  sleigh  in  the  familiar  stall. 
The  animal  had  formed  a  sympathetic  habit  and  knew  where 
to  go  when  church-meeting  night  came  round. 

Mr.  March  removed  to  West  Roxbury  in  1851  and  con¬ 
nected  himself  with  the  church  in  that  place.  One  street 
there  bears  his  name,  and  beautiful  trees  of  his  planting 
witness  to  the  public  spirit  and  good  taste  of  the  man.  He 
was  never  robust.  A  pulmonary  attack  would  not  at  any 
time  have  seemed  unnatural.  It  was  while  engaged  in 
service  for  the  public  that  he  took  cold.  Upon  medical 
recommendation  he  went  South,  but  no  alleviation  followed 


208 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


and  he  reached  home  only  forty-eight  hours  before  departure 
to  the  “  land  that  is  very  far  off.”  He  could  utter  but  a  few 
words  to  wife  and  children :  “  Though  I  walk  through  the 
valley  of  the  shadow  of  death  I  will  fear  no  evil ;  ”  “I  am 
persuaded  that  neither  death,  nor  life,  nor  angels,  nor  princi¬ 
palities,  nor  powers  shall  be  able  to  separate  me  from  the 
love  of  God  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus  our  Lord.” 

Then  looking  up  — 

“  Jesus,  lover  of  my  soul, 

Let  me  to  thy  bosom  fly.” 

That  flight  he  took  December  22,  1854,  at  forty-six 
years  of  age.  His  son  writes :  “  The  remains  rest  in  the 
Forest  Hills  Cemetery,  his  lot  being  beside  the  lot  of  his 
dear  friend,  Dr.  A.  C.  Thompson,  and  that  of  Deacon  Alvah 
Kittredge.” 


6.  EDWARD  B.  HUNTINGTON. 

In  the  order  of  seniority  Mr.  Huntington  was  the  sixth 
entrusted  with  the  office  of  deacon  (1856-1871)  and  so  far 
from  any  one  regretting  the  choice  there  was  universal 
satisfaction.  He  was  kind,  courteous,  faithful,  punctual  in 
attendance  upon  religious  services;  never  obtrusive,  yet 
always  ready  to  accept  his  share  of  responsibility.  He  was 
born  in  Norwich,  Connecticut,  June  18,  1806.  After  school¬ 
days  were  passed  he  went  into  a  New  York  hardware  store 
for  a  year  or  two ;  then  with  a  friend  went  into  independent 
business  and  was  successful.  He  joined  the  Mercer  Street 
Church,  in  the  pastorship  of  Dr.  Thomas  Skinner.  He  was 


THE  DIACONATE. 


209 


regarded  as  a  man  of  excellent  judgment  and  his  counsel 
was  sought  in  matters  of  difficulty. 

Mr.  Huntington  left  Boston  in  1872,  his  health  being 
much  impaired.  One  winter  was  spent  in  Aiken,  South 
Carolina,  and  another  in  Florida;  but  the  harassing  cough 
which  had  come  on  was  ominous.  Strength  failed  rapidly, 
and  his  sixty-ninth  anniversary  of  birth  (June  18,  1875)  was 
his  birthday  into  the  city  of  our  God.  His  last  days  were 
days  of  complete  calmness  and  serenity,  sweetness  of  temper 
and  resignation.  The  mortal  resting-place  is  beside  that  of 
two  children,  Susan  and  Edward,  in  our  beautiful  Forest 
Hills  Cemetery. 

Mr.  Huntington  was  not  of  a  joyous  temperament.  He 
suffered  in  later  life  not  infrequently  from  depression  of 
spirits  due  to  heredity.  A  tender  conscientiousness  became 
apparently  morbid  at  times  and  a  too  severe  introspection 
was  maintained.  He  was  gentle  and  sensitive,  cherishing  a 
high  standard  of  integrity  and  Christian  living,  a  devoted 
parishioner  and  interested  in  all  church  concerns.  The 
cause  of  missions  commanded  a  lively  and  abiding  interest. 
This  was  in  some  measure  a  family  characteristic.  His  pater¬ 
nal  grandmother,  Faith  Trumbull,  was  a  daughter  of  the  first 
Governor  Trumbull,  and  his  father,  Dea.  Jabez  Huntington, 
was  a  son  of  General  Jedediah  Huntington,  one  of  the  nine 
original  corporators  of  the  American  Board.  Miss  Sarah  L. 
Huntington,  who  became  the  wife  of  Dr.  Eli  Smith,  the  well 
known  missionary  in  Syria,1  was  a  sister. 

1  Memoir  of  Mrs.  Sarah  L.  Huntington  Smith ,  late  of  the  American  Mission 
in  Syria.  By  Edward  W.  Hooker,  d.  d.  Third  Edition. 


210 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


Mr.  Huntington  gave  me  (i860)  a  list  of  forty-six  clergy¬ 
men  bearing  the  family  name.  They  represented  five  gen¬ 
erations,  and  were  descended  from  the  two  Huntington 
brothers,  who  went  in  1660  from  Saybrook  to  Norwich  as 
pioneers.  The  widow  of  Simon  Huntington  was  a  member 
of  the  church  to  which  John  Eliot  ministered. 


7.  MOSES  HENRY  DAY. 

Mr.  Day  was  one  of  the  few  natives  of  Roxbury  — 
where  he  was  born  July  9,  1832  —  who  became  prominent 
in  the  Eliot  Church.  His  immigrant  ancestor  was  supposed 
to  be  Robert  Day,  of  Ipswich,  who  came  from  England  in 
the  “Hopewell,”  1638.  Mr.  Day  prepared  for  college  at  the 
Roxbury  Latin  School,  and  graduated  from  Harvard  1853. 
He  then  immediately  devoted  himself  to  business  and  before 
long  was  manager  of  the  manufacturing  department  of 
Sewell,  Day  &  Company’s  cordage  establishment,  and 
later  president  of  the  same.  In  that  position  he  continued 
through  remaining  life.  Unquestioned  integrity  and  honor 
marked  his  entire  business  career,  as  was  true  of  each  mem¬ 
ber  of  the  firm,  which  included  his  father  —  a  man  of  invent¬ 
ive  genius,  and  one  of  its  founders  —  and  a  younger  brother, 
Mr.  William  F.  Day.  No  business  concern  of  Boston,  and 
probably  no  other  in  the  country,  has  shown  a  more  uniform 
and  wise  regard  for  the  welfare  of  employees,  by  encouraging 
all  good  habits  and  by  kindness  to  them  as  well  as  to  their 
families.  The  men  were  instructed  to  be  cautious  in  lan¬ 
guage  and  action.  No  profaneness  was  allowed  on  the 


THE  DIACONATE. 


21 1 


premises.  Only  the  best  quality  of  goods,  honestly  made 
and  honestly  labelled,  were  accepted  by  the  firm  or  delivered 
to  purchasers.  As  a  natural  consequence,  their  products 
were  in  wide  demand  and  gave  unvarying  satisfaction.  As 
might  be  expected,  the  several  members  of  the  corporation 
were  loved  and  honored  by  the  workmen,  and  the  wheels  of 
business  were  never  stopped  by  strikes.  The  company  had 
in  their  employ  at  one  time  forty  persons  who  had  worked 
for  them  ten  years,  of  whom  ten  had  been  in  their  service 
for  twenty  years ;  five  for  thirty  years ;  three  for  forty  years ; 
and  two  between  fifty  and  sixty  years.  Honesty  and  kind¬ 
ness  pay  well. 

Mr.  Day  held  various  trusts,  as  Bank  Director,  Presi¬ 
dent  of  the  Institution  for  Savings,  Trustee  of  the  Roxbury 
Latin  School,  examiner  in  Latin  at  Harvard  College,  and  a 
Councillor  and  Alderman  in  the  City  Government.  For  ten 
years  (1857-1867)  he  was  a  Deacon  of  the  Eliot  Church  and 
for  twelve  years  (1869-1881)  held  the  same  office  in  the 
Highland  Church,  and  in  the  latter  was,  for  an  equal  period, 
Superintendent  of  the  Sunday  School. 

He  was  a  man  of  simple  tastes  who  found  his  chief 
happiness  at  home  with  his  family,  where  as  a  father  he 
showed  peculiar  kindness  and  devotion  to  the  children,  yet 
requiring  and  securing  implicit  obedience.  In  all  positions 
and  relations,  while  conservative  and  firm,  he  exhibited  a 
charitable  disposition,  and  without  being  imperious  was 
a  man  of  decision.  Failure  of  health  occasioned  a  voyage 
to  Europe.  The  tour,  however,  brought  little  relief,  and 
returning  to  Boston  he  entered  into  rest  January  17,  1882. 


212 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


8.  LUCIUS  HAMILTON  BRIGGS. 

Mr.  Briggs  was  anything  but  a  fighting  man,  though 
a  descendant  from  military  men.  Jeremiah  Stiles,  his 
maternal  great-grandfather,  was  a  captain  in  Col.  Paul 
Dudley  Sargent’s  regiment  at  the  Battle  of  Bunker  Hill. 
He  made  the  official  report  to  Congress,  then  sitting  in 
New  York,  on  the  death  of  General  Warren.  Captain 
Stiles  was  afterwards  a  portrait  painter  and  civil  engineer, 
holding  various  offices  in  the  town  of  Keene,  N.  H.  He 
was  a  delegate  to  the  convention  at  Concord  (1778)  for 
forming  a  State  Constitution,  and  was  elected  a  member 
of  the  Committee  of  Safety  (1776).  With  two  hundred 
others  he  then  signed  the  following  declaration  :  — 

“We,  the  subscribers,  do  hereby  solemnly  engage 
and  promise  that  we  will,  to  the  utmost  of  our  power,  at 
the  risque  of  our  lives  and  fortunes,  with  arms  oppose 
the  hostile  proceedings  of  the  British  fleets  and  armies 
against  the  American  Colonies.”  On  the  father’s  side 
Mr.  Briggs  was  at  an  equal  remove  from  Eliphalet  Briggs, 
an  officer  in  the  Indian  wars.  No  less  loyal  in  spirit  and 
no  less  ready  for  self-sacrificing  service  than  they,  he  was, 
however,  eminently  a  man  of  peace.  Mr.  Briggs  was 
born  at  Keene,  N.  H.,  November  4,  1811,  and  received 
his  education  in  the  public  schools  of  that  town,  after 
which  he  entered  into  business  there.  Subsequently  he 
became  a  business  man  in  Boston  (1847).  Still  later 
(January,  1873),  Mr.  Briggs  was  chosen  General  Agent  of 


THE  DIACONATE. 


21 3 


the  Roxbury  Charitable  Society,  a  position  for  which  his 
warm  sympathy  with  the  poor  peculiarly  fitted  him,  and 
which  he  held  till  1886,  when  ill-health  obliged  him  to 
resign. 

That  Society,  instituted  in  1 794,  and  incorporated 
February,  1799,  is  one  of  the  older  benevolencies  of  our 
country.  The  Hon.  John  Lowell  was  its  first  president. 
For  many  years  the  income  and  the  demands  for  aid  were 
comparatively  small ;  and  at  length  by  the  failure  of  the 
Rockland  Bank,  an  accumulated  fund  was  almost  entirely 
lost.  Since  then,  however,  handsome  bequests  and  gifts 
have  furnished  a  permanent  fund  of  more  than  one  hun¬ 
dred  and  sixty  thousand  dollars;  while  charities  disbursed 
from  the  first  to  the  present  time  do  not  fall  short  of 
three  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars.  The  require¬ 
ments  for  1894,  for  instance,  were  very  heavy,  owing  to 
the  fire  in  May  of  that  year,  which  rendered  nearly  four 
hundred  families  homeless.  In  1896  seven  hundred  and 
thirty-one  families,  representing  twenty-seven  hundred  and 
forty-seven  individuals,  received  aid  in  the  usual  forms  of 
clothing,  furniture,  fuel,  provisions,  etc.  Work  is  supplied 
at  the  wood-yard,  and  an  efficient  dispensary  department 
is  maintained. 

Mr.  Briggs  was  a  man  of  cheerfulness,  kindly  dis¬ 
posed,  prompt  and  faithful  in  various  relations  and  duties. 
Nothing  but  sickness  could  keep  him,  for  instance,  from 
church  meetings.  More  than  once  he  told  me  that,  how¬ 
ever  wearied  he  might  be  by  a  day’s  work,  the  hour  of 


214 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


fellowship  in  the  chapel  always  rested  and  refreshed  him. 
For  many  years  he  had  a  Bible  Class  of  lads  and  young 
men  in  the  Sunday  School.  In  the  family  no  one  could 
be  more  affectionately  thoughtful  than  he,  seldom  com¬ 
ing  home  after  business  hours  without  bringing  some  little 
token,  usually  a  flower. 

On  coming  to  Boston  he  was  connected  successively 
with  the  Pine  Street  and  Park  Street  Churches,  and  then 
removing  his  connection  to  the  Eliot  Church  (1858). 
After  thirty-one  years  of  membership  with  us,  and  twenty- 
eight  years  of  service  as  an  office-bearer,  he  fell  asleep, 
April  17,  1889,  having  enjoyed  the  full  confidence  of  all, 
that  he  was  indeed  a  “  good  man.” 


9.  JOSEPH  RUSSELL  BRADFORD. 

In  the  book  of  Judges  it  is  said  of  a  certain  place, 
“  There  was  a  strong  tower  in  the  city.”  In  each  city  where 
Mr.  Bradford  lived  at  different  times,  Boston,  Roxbury,  and 
Cambridge,  the  same  may  be  said.  As  a  Christian  man  he 
was  a  tower  of  strength.  It  was  not  till  just  midway  in  life, 
when  thirty-five  years  of  age,  that  he  became  a  new  man. 
He  had  been  reared  in  unbelief  as  to  any  special  inspiration 
of  the  Bible,  the  Deity  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  sacrificial  nature 
of  his  sufferings,  the  need  of  the  Holy  Spirit’s  regenerating 
grace,  and  the  desert  of  future  punishment  for  unrepented 
sin.  But  in  ripe  manhood  he  was  led  to  read  the  holy  vol¬ 
ume  candidly  for  himself  and  was  brought  into  the  light, 


THE  DIACONATE. 


2I5 


comfort,  and  strength  of  evangelical  Christianity.  Indi¬ 
vidual  characteristics,  whether  inherited  or  not,  usually  give 
tone  to  a  man’s  religious  life,  and  it  is  natural  to  suppose 
that  the  development  of  Mr.  Bradford  after  conversion  took 
a  coloring  from  heredity.  On  the  father’s  side  he  was  a 
descendant  from  a  Puritan  nephew  of  Samuel  Bradford, 
Dean  of  Westminster  Abbey,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Carlisle  ; 
and  on  the  mother’s  side  from  Governor  Winslow’s  brother, 
whose  wife  was  the  first  woman  to  step  ashore  on  Plymouth 
Rock.  Quiet  yet  resolute  firmness  in  the  maintenance  of 
right  and  in  the  discharge  of  duty  marked  Mr.  Bradford. 
His  convictions  were  deliberately  formed,  clearly  defined,  and 
tenaciously  held.  Conscience  appeared  to  rule  supreme. 
In  matters  of  conscience,  while  never  precipitate,  decision 
was  prompt,  and  action  no  less  prompt.  For  many  years 
he  had  been  in  the  habit  of  smoking  cigars,  but  not  long 
after  making  a  public  profession  of  faith  and  the  purpose  of 
leading  a  Christian  life  he  saw,  one  day  in  the  distance,  a 
young  man,  a  member  of  his  Bible  class,  whom  he  would 
soon  meet.  It  occurred  to  him  that  the  example  of  smoking 
was  not  one  to  be  commended  by  a  teacher  while  inculcating 
from  Holy  Writ  lessons  of  self-denial.  The  cigar  was  at 
once  thrown  away  and  none  was  ever  again  put  into  his 
mouth.  Why  should  a  man  —  teacher,  pupil,  or  anybody 
else  —  indulge  in  a  practice  that  is  expensive,  offensive,  and 
unhealthy ! 

Mr.  Bradford  was  a  sober-minded  man  of  high  worth, 
such  as  will  add  strength  and  dignity  to  a  church  and  com¬ 
munity.  Stability  and  comfort  depend  a  good  deal  upon  the 


2l6 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


number  of  things  which  are  rationally  accepted  as  settled, 
so  settled  that  they  never  need  come  into  question  again. 
There  was  a  goodly  number  of  such  regarding  which  Mr. 
Bradford’s  mind  was  entirely  at  rest.  Hence  his  freedom 
from  peril  in  panics,  and  his  moral  sinew  gave  steadiness  to 
those  around  him.  People  confided  in  him.  They  found 
that  neither  friendship  nor  resentment  warped  his  judg¬ 
ment  or  checked  his  fidelity.  One  very  evident  charac¬ 
teristic  was  an  unfaltering  confidence  in  the  power  of 
prayer.  The  less  as  well  as  the  more  important  affairs  of 
daily  life  were  devoutly  committed  to  the  providence  of 
God,  in  the  name  of  our  adorable  Mediator,  and  he  carried 
an  habitual  assurance  of  gracious  answers. 

His  services  as  office-bearer  in  the  Eliot  Church  and 
other  churches ;  also  as  counsellor  and  co-worker  in  numer¬ 
ous  benevolent  organizations,  were  of  great  value.  Not  least 
was  that  the  case  during  thirteen  years  of  membership  on 
the  Prudential  Committee  of  the  American  Board.  His 
gifts  of  patient  investigation,  careful  discrimination,  and 
sound  judgment  were  fully  appreciated.  His  last  years  were 
years  of  patient  suffering.  When  informed  at  length,  after 
a  consultation  of  physicians,  that  the  case  was  a  very  critical 
one,  he  replied,  “  The  Lord  reigneth,  let  the  earth  rejoice.” 
He  died  in  Cambridge,  March  12,  1885.  Mr,  Bradford’s 
mother,  who  was  born  in  Boston,  June  9,  1793,  and  who  for 
a  long  time  was  an  inmate  in  this  son’s  family,  survived  him 
till  August,  1899,  being  then  in  her  107th  year,  and  sup¬ 
posed  to  be  at  that  time  the  oldest  person  in  our  Common¬ 
wealth. 


THE  DIACONATE. 


217 


IO.  CHARLES  WILLARD  HILL. 

Few  men  have  worn  a  more  benignant  countenance, 
or  have  been  more  uniformly  welcome  everywhere,  or 
have  shed  a  more  genial  and  healthful  influence  than  Mr. 
Hill.  It  was  a  day  of  blessing  (October  20,  1868),  when 
he  joined  us  by  commendation  from  the  Church  in  Marl¬ 
borough,  Mass.  He  was  born  in  West  Medway,  June 
5,  1834,  but  in  his  boyhood  the  family  removed  to  Shrews¬ 
bury.  In  the  parentage  there  was  a  high  sense  of  honor 
and  integrity,  coupled  with  noteworthy  readiness  to  aid 
the  weak  and  defenseless.  Modesty  crowned  the  whole. 
The  mother’s  Christian  life  began  under  the  ministry  of 
Rev.  Dr.  Ide  of  Medway.  She  was  a  daughter  of  General 
Cook ;  and  her  mother,  Mary  Mayo,  whose  father  was 
killed  by  a  British  soldier,  transmitted  an  energetic  spirit, 
which,  with  other  good  qualities,  found  place  in  this 
grandson. 

As  a  boy  Mr.  Hill  was  one  to  be  trusted ;  one  who 
could  be  depended  on  to  overcome  difficulties ;  one  to 
show  a  generous,  self-sacrificing  disposition,  as  well  as 
loyalty  to  friends  and  to  duty.  At  fourteen  years  of  age 
the  death  of  a  sister  made  a  deep  impression  of  bereave¬ 
ment,  which  remained  through  life.  His  public  profes¬ 
sion  of  faith  was  made  in  1854.  Upon  graduating  at 
Williston  Seminary,  East  Hampton,  being  then  eighteen 
years  of  age,  he  began  his  career  as  teacher  in  different 
towns  of  the  Commonwealth.  When  the  war  of  the  re- 


2l8 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


bellion  broke  out  he  left  a  delightful  home,  where  were 
a  wife  and  one  child,  and  enlisting  in  the  Fifth  Massa¬ 
chusetts  regiment,  he  served  at  Newbern,  N.  C.  When 
mustered  out  of  service  he  resumed  his  chosen  life-work, 
and  gave  full  satisfaction  as  a  teacher  at  Newton  Falls 
and  Roxbury.  For  nearly  ten  years  he  was  Master  of  the 
Comins  Grammar  School,  then  of  the  Martin  School  for 
three  years,  and  in  1890  was  transferred  to  the  Bowditch 
School,  Jamaica  Plain. 

After  two  years  of  connection  with  the  Eliot  Church 
Mr.  Hill  was  elected  deacon,  and  held  that  office  till 
the  close  of  life.  Faithful,  prompt,  calm  and  wise,  he 
endeared  himself  to  all.  He  was  a  peace-maker  and  a 
safe  counsellor.  For  many  years  he  superintended  the 
Sunday  School  and  with  more  than  usual  acceptance.  In 
the  community  and  among  associates  he  was  recognized 
as  a  leader.  The  strength  of  clear  thinking,  of  complete 
self-control,  and  of  contented  quietness  was  an  acknowl¬ 
edged  characteristic.  It  was  fitting  that  he  should  be 
made  President  of  the  Boston  Congregational  Club  (1887) 
and  of  the  Schoolmasters’  Club.  His  addresses  on  public 
occasions  were  always  to  the  point,  unambitious,  sensible 
and  pleasing.  Pupils  and  fellow  teachers  were  drawn  to 
him  in  peculiar  confidence  and  affection.  They  found 
him  singularly  dispassionate  and  devoid  of  harshness.  He 
was  master  of  the  Christian  art  of  differing  from  others 
in  a  pleasant  way,  a  way  that  if  it  did  not  win  assent  was 
sure  to  win  respect. 


THE  DIACONATE. 


219 


The  end  came  with  startling  suddenness,  and  the 
funeral  service  (November  17,  1896),  in  the  Eliot  Church, 
bore  witness  to  a  widespread  and  most  sincere  regard. 
Sunday  School  pupils  and  pupils  from  the  Grammar 
School,  masters  and  teachers  of  various  schools,  and 
numerous  friends  besides  comrades  in  the  army,  were 
eager  to  pay  a  tearful  tribute  to  their  friend.  Soon  after 
came  a  memorial  service  at  Jamaica  Plain,  where  the 
warmest  appreciative  testimony  was  rendered  by  several 
competent  witnesses. 

II.  ANDREW  MARSHALL. 

Mr.  Marshall  did  not  become  an  officer  of  the  Eliot 
Church  till  after  1871,  yet  all  remember  him  as  a  brother 
beloved,  and  from  1876  onward  one  of  the  goodly  band  of 
deacons.  Green  Hill,  Nova  Scotia,  was  his  birthplace,  and 
February  23,  1831,  the  date  of  his  birth.  The  family  emi¬ 
grated  in  1774  from  mountainous  Dumfriesshire,  Scotland, 
to  Prince  Edward’s  Island,  and  at  first  endured  great  priva¬ 
tion.  Andrew  Marshall,  Andrew’s  great-grandfather,  was  a 
man  of  unusual  ability,  a  leader  in  Christian  work.  He 
took  charge  of  a  Lord’s-day  religious  service,  which  the 
Highlanders  of  that  neighborhood  called  a  “  Reading,”  and 
which  consisted  of  prayer,  praise,  the  reading  of  Scripture 
and  other  religious  books.  Of  the  latter  only  a  few  had 
been  brought  from  Scotland,  and  the  mice  made  havoc  of 
them.  An  imperfect  copy  of  Bostons  Fourfold  State  did 
good  service.  It  was  in  a  barn  of  his  son  Robert  that  the 


220 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


first  Presbytery  was  formed  at  Pictou  in  1795.  Robert,  of 
the  next  generation,  the  father  of  our  Andrew  Marshall,  was 
a  public-spirited  man  at  New  Glasgow,  whither  the  family 
had  removed.  His  wife,  Janet  Miller,  Andrew’s  mother, 
appears  to  have  been  a  woman  of  superior  mental  and  spirit¬ 
ual  power.  Though  an  invalid  for  twenty-two  years  and 
most  of  the  time  confined  to  the  bed,  her  room  was  always 
a  sunny  spot,  for  the  light  of  her  countenance  shone  con¬ 
stantly.  The  peace  of  God  within  never  failed.  Her  father, 
Lawrence  Miller,  a  very  decided  Christian,  was  no  common 
man.  At  sixty  years  of  age  he  built  a  study  and  set  himself 
to  mastering  the  Latin  language. 

Young  Andrew  Marshall  seemed  to  inherit  student 
tastes  and  ambition.  His  teacher,  Peter  MacGregor,  was 
desirous  that  he  should  be  educated  for  the  ministry,  but 
family  circumstances  would  not  permit.  The  habit  of  read¬ 
ing  and  a  desire  for  improvement  continued  through  life. 
A  tenacious  memory  characterized  him  in  boyhood.  One 
Sabbath  morning  he  learned  by  heart  the  fifth  chapter  of 
James’  epistle  while  breakfast  was  being  prepared. 

In  1851  Mr.  Marshall,  then  twenty  years  of  age,  came 
to  Roxbury.  He  was  a  thoughtful  young  man  of  correct 
habits,  but  parental  prayer  and  training  had  not  yet  resulted 
in  decided  Christian  living.  After  a  season  of  earnest 
religious  thoughtfulness  he  devoted  himself  unreservedly 
to  the  service  of  God,  came  out  of  spiritual  darkness  into 
light,  made  public  profession  of  faith  in  Christ,  and  joined 
the  Eliot  Church,  November  2,  1866.  Thence  onward  he 


THE  DIACONATE. 


221 


commended  himself  to  all  as  faithful  —  faithful  in  business 
relations,  faithful  in  all  domestic  duties,  faithful  in  Bible- 
class  instruction,  and  the  various  requirements  of  church 
life,  including  those  of  the  diaconate.  He  was  deeply  and 
wisely  interested  in  the  cause  of  temperance.  His  zeal  did 
not  expend  itself  in  speech-making.  He  labored  kindly  and 
persistently  with  the  victims  of  strong  drink.  Among  those 
thus  reclaimed  two  cases  may  well  be  mentioned.  One 
man,  thoroughly  reformed  and  restored  to  respectability, 
prospered  in  business  and  amassed  a  fortune.  The  other, 
after  reformation  and  spiritual  conversion,  continued  for 
twenty-five  years  a  valued  church  member.  When  looking 
at  the  portrait  of  his  benefactor,  he  said,  “  That  man  saved 
me.”  Mr.  Marshall’s  character  partook  of  independence 
without  arrogance,  of  firmness  without  obstinacy.  There 
was  the  grace  of  a  poetic  element.  To  his  last  days  he 
could  repeat  the  Assembly’s  Shorter  Catechism,  questions 
and  answers,  as  well  as  “The  Cotter’s  Saturday  Night,”  and 
other  favorite  poems. 

When  the  fatal  issue  of  Mr.  Marshall’s  last  sickness  was 
announced,  the  universal  thought  was,  A  good  man  has  left 
us,  a  man  deeply  respected  by  all.  That  was  a  Lord’s-day 
morning,  to  him  the  day  of  all  the  week  the  best  for  life  on 
earth  and  for  entering  heaven.  Most  unfeigned  was  the 
mourning  of  the  company  which  followed  his  remains  to 
Cedar  Grove  Cemetery,  April  4,  1883. 


222 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


12.  WILLIAM  FRANCIS  DAY. 

After  a  course  at  the  Grammar  School  and  High 
School,  it  was  Mr.  Day’s  purpose  to  enjoy  the  advantages 
of  collegiate  education,  and  accordingly  he  began  prepara¬ 
tion.  Weak  eyes  and  a  delicate  condition  of  general 
health,  which  continued  for  many  years,  obliged  him  to 
relinquish  the  coveted  prize.  He  took  a  position  in  the 
Cordage  Factory  of  Sewall,  Day  &  Co.,  as  clerk  and  pay¬ 
master.  Upon  the  decease  of  his  brother  Henry,  he  be¬ 
came  President  and  General  Manager  of  the  company. 
When  the  business  was  disposed  of  to  the  National  Cord¬ 
age  Company,  Mr.  Day  was  asked  to  remain  in  charge 
and  to  act  as  Treasurer.  But  it  had  become  a  growing 
custom  with  manufacturers  to  mix  goods  and  to  label 
them  as  if  unmixed.  In  a  very  exemplary  manner  Mr. 
Day  carried  his  conscience  with  him  into  business  trans¬ 
actions.  One  proceeding  will  illustrate.  After  the  con¬ 
cern  was  merged  in  the  National  Cordage  Company  he 
had  occasion  to  say  repeatedly  to  friends,  “  When  I  can¬ 
not  manage  affairs  according  to  the  dictates  of  my  con¬ 
science,  I  shall  resign  my  position.”  The  old  firm  had  a 
wide  reputation  for  perfect  integrity ;  but  a  quality  of 
hemp  was  sent  to  him  to  be  worked  up  and  put  on  the 
market  as  “Sewall  and  Day’s  Rope”  or  “  Twine,”  the  fibre 
of  which  he  considered  to  be  inferior  to  that  which  had 
secured  for  the  firm  its  good  name.  He  could  not  be 
accessory  to  such  fraud  and  sent  in  his  resignation  1  (1894). 


‘See  Cordage  Trade  Journal,  Vol.  IX.,  No.  u.  Dec.  i,  1894. 


THE  DIACONATE. 


223 


Home  was  Mr.  Day’s  paradise,  and  he  gave  himself 
assiduously  to  all  domestic  interests,  and  especially  to 
the  religious  training  of  his  children.  In  all  church 
affairs  he  took  the  liveliest  interest.  His  active  participa¬ 
tion  in  devotional  services  was  such  as  drew  the  hearts 
of  others  at  once  to  the  mercy-seat.  He  was  twice  elected 
Deacon  of  the  Eliot  Church,  though  not  till  after  Dr. 
Hamilton  became  associate  pastor  in  1871.  His  church 
membership  dates  from  1857.  Besides  other  responsible 
positions,  he  was  a  trustee  of  the  Roxbury  Latin  School, 
of  the  Hartford  Theological  Seminary,  and  a  corporate 
member  of  the  American  Board. 

His  entrance  into  rest  on  the  afternoon  of  March  8, 
1899,  was  especially  sudden.  Happily  it  was  at  his  own 
home  in  Boston.  He  had  been  out  on  business  and  in 
apparent  usual  health.  The  event  was  not  wholly  a  sur¬ 
prise  to  those  who  were  acquainted  with  the  delicacy  of 
his  constitution,  and  with  his  liabilities  in  recent  years. 
It  is  seldom  that  a  family,  a  church,  and  a  community 
suffer  so  great  a  loss  in  the  removal  of  one  member. 
Mr.  Day  was  in  the  sixty-first  year  of  his  age. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


MINISTERIAL  PARISHIONERS. 

It  is  not  always  the  case  that  ordained  men  arfe  partic¬ 
ularly  acceptable  as  private  members  of  a  church.  They  are 
sometimes  reputed  to  be  officious  and  opinionated,  a  thorn 
to  the  pastor  and  an  annoyance  to  associates.  Here  it  has 
been  entirely  otherwise.  Clerical  members  have,  without 
exception,  approved  themselves  as  sympathetic  with  the 
pastor  and  the  whole  brotherhood  and  in  appropriate  ways 
helpful.  In  the  course  of  the  first  twenty-nine  years  of  my 
ministry  (1842-71)  there  were  twenty-five  such  connected 
with  the  congregation,  two  of  whom,  each  over  eighty,  died 
the  same  year.  Besides  the  following  there  were  seven  or 
eight  other  clergymen  whose  names  will  be  found  among 
missionary  officials  or  among  educators. 

I.  REV.  STEPHEN  SANFORD  SMITH. 

Haverhill,  New  Hampshire,  was  Mr.  Smith’s  birthplace, 
April  14,  1797,  Rev.  Ethan  Smith  being  his  father.  He  was 
early  in  the  office  of  Horace  Greeley  as  a  printer’s  boy. 
Having  prepared  for  the  ministry,  he  preached  in  different 
places.  Together  with  his  wife  he  was  received  to  the  Pres¬ 
byterian  Church,  Fayetteville,  New  York,  from  the  North 
Congregational  Church  in  New  Bedford.  After  his  ministry 
at  Fayetteville  the  private  relationship  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  S.  S. 
Smith  was  transferred  to  us  in  1837. 


MINISTERIAL  PARISHIONERS. 


225 


On  returning  to  Massachusetts  Mr.  Smith  acted  as 
agent  for  the  American  Sunday  School  Union,  for  the 
American  and  Foreign  Christian  Union,  and  the  Bible 
Society;  he  also  held  one  or  two  pastorates.  His  death 
came  suddenly  at  the  house  of  a  relative  in  Worcester, 
October,  1871.  He  had  engaged  to  preach  the  next  Lord’s 
Day  at  Medway  Village  and  had  selected  a  sermon  from 
the  text,  “  I  shall  be  satisfied  when  I  awake  in  thy  like¬ 
ness,”  and  that  discourse  was  read  at  his  funeral.  These 
circumstances  are  strikingly  similar  to  those  which  occurred 
at  the  death  of  Rev.  S.  F.  Smith,  d.d.,  author  of  the  hymn, 
“  My  country,  ’t is  of  thee.”  Mr.  S.  S.  Smith  was  a  man 
of  activity  and  of  advanced  views  in  various  departments 
of  reform.  During  his  connection  with  the  Eliot  Church 
his  agency  took  him  away  on  the  Sabbath,  and  that  was 
a  reason  for  his  acquaintance  in  Roxbury  being  compara¬ 
tively  slight.  The  family,  however,  were  much  interested 
in  the  welfare  of  this  church  and  contributed  liberally  to 
its  support ;  but  before  long  they  removed  to  Newton. 


2.  REV.  HUNTINGTON  PORTER. 

Mr.  Porter  became  pastor  of  the  church  in  Rye,  New 
Hampshire,  December  29,  1784,  but  had  a  colleague  for 
several  years  before  his  death  (March  7,  1844),  and  hence 
was  at  liberty  to  spend  time  in  Roxbury  with  his  daughter, 
Mrs.  Charles  K.  Dillaway.  Mr.  Porter  was  not  long  a 
member  of  our  congregation.  He  was  a  son  of  Rev.  John 


226 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


Porter,  of  Bridgewater,  Massachusetts,  where  he  was  born 
March  27,  1755;  and  with  two  of  his  brothers  graduated 
from  Harvard  College  the  same  day.  Each  of  the  three 
brothers  not  only  received  his  degree  of  A.  B.  at  the  same 
time  with  the  others,  but  also  had  a  pastorate  of  more 
than  half  a  century,  coincidences  probably  without  a 
parallel. 

3.  REV.  EZRA  CONANT. 

Mr.  Conant  was  born  at  Concord,  Massachusetts,  in 
1763.  He  graduated  from  Harvard  College  with  the 
Class  of  1784,  and  then  studied  theology  with  Rev.  Ezra 
Ripley  of  his  native  place.  He  was  installed  pastor  of 
the  church  in  Winchester,  New  Hampshire,  1788,  where 
he  remained  for  eighteen  years.  After  a  short  residence 
with  his  son,  Mr.  Caleb  Conant,  a  member  of  the  Eliot 
Church,  he  died  at  the  age  of  eighty-one,  and  I  attended 
his  funeral  October  5,  1844.  Owing  to  infirmities  the  old 
gentleman  had  not  been  able  to  worship  with  us  in  public. 
It  attracted  attention  at  the  time  that  two  ministers,  the 
one  eighty-nine,  the  other  eighty-one  years  old,  departed 
this  life  the  same  year. 

4.  REV.  CHARLES  BAKER  KITTREDGE. 

Mount  Vernon,  New  Hampshire,  was  the  native  place 
of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Kittredge  as  well  as  his  brother,  Deacon 
Alvah  Kittredge.  It  was  on  an  anniversary  of  our 
National  Independence,  July  4,  1806,  that  the  former  was 


MINISTERIAL  PARISHIONERS. 


227 


born,  and  in  his  character  there  was  a  good  degree  of  in¬ 
dependence,  which  manifested  itself  by  a  quiet  self-reliance. 
As  a  student  he  supported  himself  by  teaching  music. 
After  graduating  from  Dartmouth  College  and  from  the 
Andover  Theological  Seminary  he  became  pastor  succes¬ 
sively  and  usefully  at  Groton,  Westborough,  and  Munson 
in  Massachusetts.  One  who  in  early  life  had  been  a  par¬ 
ishioner,  and  afterwards  a  valued  minister  of  the  gospel* 
remarked,  “  I  never  sat  down  by  a  fresher  or  sweeter  foun¬ 
tain.”  A  small  volume  of  his,  entitled  Harvestings ;  or 
Reminiscences  of  a  Country  Pastor ,  indicates  fidelity  in 
ministrations,  and  a  happy  use  of  the  pen.  The  same  is 
true  of  frequent  articles  in  Sabbath  School  and  other 
journals. 

Mr.  Kittredge  knew  what  it  was  to  experience  the 
chastening  strokes  of  our  Heavenly  Father  in  the  loss  of 
four  children,  as  well  as  in  other  trials.  He  was  a  modest 
man,  of  retiring  habits,  never  given  to  display,  and  least 
of  all,  display  by  himself  or  in  connection  with  himself. 
Humility  was  a  characteristic.  Modesty  may  be  only  a 
natural  trait ;  humility  is  a  product  of  divine  grace,  one 
that  does  not'  seem  to  be  eminently  peculiar  to  American 
Christians. 

It  is  asked  what  were  the  antecedents  which  will,  in 
some  measure,  account  for  these  traits?  He  had  a  most 
decidedly  Christian  mother,  Mary  Baker,  one  of  the  rare 
daughters  of  New  Hampshire;  gentle,  modest,  industrious, 
cheerful,  her  piety  deep,  well-balanced,  and  marked  by  a 


228 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


faith  unwavering  as  the  hills  of  her  native  state.  In  the 
home  at  Mount  Vernon  was  a  little  room  under  the  stairs, 
into  which,  when  closed,  sunlight  could  not  enter,  but  into 
which,  unobserved  except  by  Him  who  seeth  in  secret, 
she  entered  three  times  a  day  for  prayer.  He  who  seeth 
in  secret  rewarded  openly.  All  of  her  seven  children 
were  prayed  into  the  kingdom,  two  of  whom  became 
ordained  ministers,  while  one  of  the  daughters,  wife  of  the 
Rev.  E.  W.  Clark,  became  in  the  language  of  her  associates, 
“  The  model  missionary  wife  and  mother  ”  at  the  Hawaiian 
Islands.  This  son  Charles  was  naturally  drawn  to  special 
acquaintance  and  interest  in  foreign  missions.  Six  of 
his  classmates  in  Andover,  the  class  of  1832,  devoted 
themselves  to  that  department  of  labor  —  Ashur  Bliss 
among  the  Seneca  Indians ;  B.  W.  Parker  at  the  Sand¬ 
wich  Islands;  Ira  Tracy  in  China  and  India;  Henry  Ly¬ 
man  and  Samuel  Munson,  martyrs  in  Sumatra ;  and  Dr. 
Elias  Riggs,  now  in  his  ninetieth  year,  and  still  useful  at 
Constantinople.  To  the  close  of  life  Mr.  Kittredge  kept 
himself  familiar  also  with  the  proceedings  of  our  various 
societies  which  are  devoted  to  religious  work  at  home. 

His  death  occurred  at  Westborough,  in  November, 
1884.  The  last  letter  from  him  received  by  the  writer, 
which  was  written  just  before  decease  and  with  refer¬ 
ence  to  the  funeral,  had  this  sentence :  “  I  am  most  anxious 
that  the  service  should  be  as  private  as  the  circumstances 
will  permit,  and  that  Christ  only  be  exalted,  through 
whose  infinite  merits  I  have  hope  of  pardon  and  eternal 
life.” 


MINISTERIAL  PARISHIONERS. 


229 


5.  REV.  WILLIAM  HENRY  PORTER. 

Rev.  Huntington  Porter  was  his  father,  and  his  mother 
was  a  daughter  of  Gen.  Jonathan  Moulton,  of  Hampton,  New 
Hampshire,  the  Rev.  John  Porter,  of  Bridgewater,  Massachu¬ 
setts,  being  a  grandfather,  and  Mary,  a  daughter  of  Deacon 
Samuel  Huntington,  of  Lebanon,  Connecticut,  a  grand¬ 
mother.  Rye,  New  Hampshire,  was  his  birthplace,  Septem¬ 
ber  19,  1817.  Mr.  Porter  and  his  twin  brother,  Charles 
Henry,  entertained  the  Christian  hope  at  the  age  of  nine 
years  and  soon  after  entered  the  academy  at  Andover,  having 
in  view  preparation  for  the  ministry.  They  entered  Yale, 
but  the  twin  brother  Charles  died  midway  in  his  college 
course.  William  Henry  Porter,  after  graduating  (1841),  spent 
two  years  in  the  New  Haven  Divinity  School  and  a  third 
year  at  the  Union  Theological  Seminary,  New  York  (1844). 
The  next  four  years  he  was  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Litchfield,  New  Hampshire.  He  contributed 
articles  to  the  Christian  Alliance ,  a  paper  edited  by  Dr. 
Dorus  Clark.  Pulmonary  consumption  was  at  length  devel¬ 
oped,  and,  leaving  a  widow  and  two  interesting  sons,  he 
died  at  Roxbury  May  26,  1861. 


6.  REV.  CHARLES  SHAW  ADAMS. 

A  descendant  of  Henry  Adams,  who  came  from  Eng¬ 
land  (1640);  a  son  of  Dr.  Samuel  and  Abigail  Dodge  Adams, 
born  in  Bath,  Maine,  May  3,  1797.  He  studied  at  Phillips 
Academy,  Andover,  and  graduated  from  Bowdoin  College 


230 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


with  the  class  of  1823.  More  immediate  preparation  for 
the  ministry  was  made  with  a  Congregational  pastor. 

Mr.  Adams’  pastorates  were  with  churches  in  Newfield 
and  Wells,  Maine;  Harwich  and  South  Dartmouth,  Massa¬ 
chusetts;  South  Coventry,  Rhode  Island;  Westford,  Con¬ 
necticut;  Strongville,  Ohio;  and  Quincy,  Michigan.  His 
death  from  brain  fever  took  place  at  Hillsdale,  Michigan, 
July  29,  1873;  and  by  a  noteworthy  coincidence,  on  the 
same  day  and  only  nine  hours  after  his  wife’s  decease. 


7.  REV.  DAVID  MEAUBEC  MITCHELL. 

The  year  1853  was  not  signalized  by  large  accessions 
to  the  Eliot  Church  —  the  whole  number  being  a  little 
over  thirty  —  but  some  in  that  group  were  persons  of 
marked  Christian  excellence.  Such  an  one  was  the  Rev. 
David  M.  Mitchell  —  a  man  of  rare  modesty,  great  gen¬ 
tleness,  most  serviceable  common  sense  combined  with 
steadfast  religious  principle  and  conscientious  fidelity  in 
the  discharge  of  duties.  His  coming  was  felt  at  once  as 
a  benediction,  and  was  so  regarded  by  all  during  the 
period  of  his  residence  and  labors  in  Roxbury. 

Mr.  Mitchell’s  immediate  ancestry  had  their  home  in 
North  Yarmouth,  Maine,  which  looks  out  upon  Casco  Bay. 
They  were  Pilgrims  of  the  Pilgrims,  his  earliest  paternal 
forefather  in  this  country  having  arrived  at  Plymouth, 
1623,  and  from  him  there  had  been  an  uninterrupted  line 
of  respected  office-bearers  in  evangelical  churches.  His 


MINISTERIAL  PARISHIONERS. 


231 


father  and  grandfather  bore  the  title  of  Honorable,  having 
been  for  many  successive  years  members  of  the  Legis¬ 
lature  —  its  House  of  Representatives  or  its  Senate  — 
before  the  separation  of  Maine  from  Massachusetts.  The 
father  was  a  physician  of  high  standing  and  of  a  Chris¬ 
tian  character  not  less  eminent.  The  Bible  was  the 
family  text-book,  and  the  Assembly’s  Catechism,  thor¬ 
oughly  committed  to  memory,  an  invaluable  auxiliary. 

At  seventeen  years  of  age  Mr.  Mitchell  experienced 
the  great  spiritual  crisis  which  used  to  be  called  regenera¬ 
tion  —  a  term  now  seldom  heard.  The  year  follow¬ 
ing  (1808)  he  joined  the  church  and  also  entered 
Yale  College.  That  he  was  the  only  professing  Christian 
in  the  entering  class,  and  that  there  were  only  three  or 
four  church  members  in  all  the  classes,  suggest  the  re¬ 
ligious  character  of  the  institution  at  that  time.  His 
roommate,  Ralph  Emerson,  afterwards  a  professor  in  the 
Theological  Seminary  at  Andover,  found  a  special  bless¬ 
ing  in  that  connection.  The  late  Sidney  E.  Morse  made 
a  third  associate  in  the  same  room  for  a  time.  Mr.  Morse 
bore  written  testimony  to  Mr.  Mitchell’s  high  standing  as 
a  scholar,  the  universal  respect  for  him  in  college,  and 
the  circumstance  that  he  was  expected  to  lead  in  all  the 
movements  of  the  revival  (1808).  Fifty  or  more  converts 
were  fruits  of  that  season  of  special  grace. 

After  graduating  at  the  Andover  Seminary  (1814), 
Mr.  Mitchell  labored  for  a  year  in  the  service  of  the 
Maine  Missionary  Society,  and  then  became  pastor  of  the 


232 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


church  in  Waldoborough.  Twenty-six  years  of  indefatigable 
labor  followed.  The  parish  had  an  area  of  eight  miles 
by  sixteen,  the  population  was  very  sparse,  and  his  nearest 
clerical  exchanges  were  forty  miles  on  the  east  and  sixty 
miles  on  the  north.  In  the  church  there  were  only 
twenty  members,  and  they  had  no  meeting-house.  But 
seasons  of  spiritual  refreshing  came ;  more  than  two  hun¬ 
dred  additions  to  the  church  were  made ;  and  a  commo¬ 
dious  place  of  worship  was  erected.  Pulmonary  con¬ 
sumption  carried  away  one  after  another  of  his  family, 
and  threatening  farther  inroads,  a  change  of  climate  seemed 
imperative.  After  a  time  Mr.  Mitchell  entered  upon  city 
missionary  work  in  Portland,  and  continued  it  with  much 
acceptance  for  five  years.  Then  upon  invitation  from  the 
city  mission  society  of  the  Eliot  Church,  he  removed  to 
Roxbury,  and  spent  eight  years  here  in  most  faithful  and 
well-directed  labors.  Criticism  of  his  methods  or  his 
spirit  was  heard  from  no  quarter.  All  hearts  warmed 
toward  him. 

The  remaining  years  of  a  life  that  extended  somewhat 
beyond  four-score  were  spent  under  the  roof  of  his  son-in- 
law,  Rev.  E.  E.  Strong,  d.  d.,  then  pastor  in  Waltham. 
Saturday  morning,  November  27,  1869,  he  pronounced  a 
blessing  on  the  beloved  family  standing  round  him, 
“  May  the  God  of  all  grace  keep  you,  and  bring  us  all 
to  His  eternal  glory  through  Jesus  Christ;”  and  the  man 
who  for  more  than  sixty  years  had  walked  with  God 
“  was  not,  for  God  took  him.” 


MINISTERIAL  PARISHIONERS. 


233 


8.  REV.  L.  BURTON  ROCKWOOD. 

If  rare  excellencies  of  character  and  rare  fidelity  in 
church  relations  entitle  one  to  a  memorial,  then  Mr.  Rock- 
wood  deserves  mention.  He  was  born  August  8,  1816, 
at  Wilton,  New  Hampshire,  where  childhood  and  youth 
were  spent  with  his  widowed  mother  in  the  family  of  his 
grandfather,  a  physician  and  leading  Christian  man  in  that 
town.  At  fifteen  this  grandson  united  with  the  church  and 
at  nineteen  entered  Dartmouth  College,  where  he  graduated 
in  1839.  Having  spent  one  year  at  the  Andover  Theologi¬ 
cal  Seminary  he  joined  the  Union  Seminary,  New  York, 
where  he  graduated  in  1843. 

Mr.  Rockwood  performed  some  Christian  labor  in  Vir¬ 
ginia,  after  which  he  was  for  seven  years  occupied  as  finan¬ 
cial  agent  of  his  theological  Alma  Mater.  In  1850  he  was 
installed  pastor  of  the  church  in  Rocky  Hill,  Connecticut, 
as  colleague  with  Dr.  Calvin  Chapin,  where  during  a  minis¬ 
try  of  eight  or  nine  years  his  labors  were  much  blessed.  In 
the  course  of  that  connection  he  became  a  valued  member 
of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  Hartford  Theological  Seminary. 
He  was  next  selected  as  District  Secretary  of  the  American 
Tract  Society,  for  Connecticut,  and  one  year  later,  i860, 
became  Secretary  of  the  New  England  Branch  of  that 
society,  in  which  position  he  remained  for  twelve  years  till 
his  death.  It  was  with  no  small  self-denial  that  he  under¬ 
took  labors  which  required  an  absence  from  home  of  the 
fifty-two  Sabbaths  in  a  year.  Few  ministers  have  been  more 


234 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


cautious  and  conciliatory  in  such  visitation  of  the  churches, 
or  have  left  an  impression  that  made  a  second  visit  more 
to  be  desired. 

In  the  devotional  meetings  of  the  Eliot  Church  Mr. 
Rockwood  was  always  ready  to  take  his  part.  Devoutly 
earnest,  reverent  and  self-forgetful,  his  sole  aim  seemed 
to  be  to  honor  the  Saviour  by  promoting  the  spiritual  wel¬ 
fare  of  himself  and  others.  “  The  memory  of  the  just  is 
blessed.” 


9.  REV.  EDWARD  WILLIAM  HOOKER,  D.D. 

The  son  of  Rev.  Asahel  Hooker,  of  Goshen,  Connecti¬ 
cut,  where  he  was  born  November  24,  1794.  He  belonged 
to  the  seventh  generation  of  direct  descendants  from  the 
celebrated  Puritan,  Rev.  Thomas  Hooker,  of  Hartford;  but 
stood  in  a  third  remove  from  Jonathan  Edwards,  of  North¬ 
ampton,  Massachusetts,  his  mother  being  Mrs.  Phebe  Ed¬ 
wards  Hooker,  afterwards  Mrs.  Farrar,  of  Andover,  Massa¬ 
chusetts.  He  graduated  at  Middlebury  College  with  the 
class  of  1814,  and  at  the  Andover  Theological  Seminary 
three  years  later.  His  successive  pastorates  were  one  of 
eight  years  with  the  church  in  Green’s  Farms,  Connecticut; 
one  of  twelve  years  with  the  First  Congregational  Church  in 
Bennington,  Vermont;  another  of  six  years  with  the  church 
of  South  Windsor,  Connecticut,  and  yet  another  of  equal 
length  in  Fairhaven,  Vermont. 

In  the  meantime  he  became  editor  of  the  Journal  of 
Humanity,  which  was  among  the  earliest  temperance  papers 


MINISTERIAL  PARISHIONERS. 


235 


in  the  country.  For  four  years  he  was  professor  of  Sacred 
Rhetoric  in  the  Theological  Institute  of  Connecticut,  and 
he  also  supplied  different  pulpits  for  varying  periods.  One 
of  them  was  that  of  the  Eliot  Church  during  my  absence 
of  more  than  a  year  while  visiting  missions  of  the  American 
Board  in  the  East.  It  was  a  gratifying  coincidence  that 
the  son  of  my  father’s  first  pastor,  and  himself  my  father’s 
pastor  in  old  age,  should  have  held  this  position.  He  was 
elected  a  corporate  member  of  the  American  Board  in  1840; 
but  did  not  join  the  Eliot  Church  till  the  spring  of  1871. 

In  boyhood  Dr.  Hooker  was  unusually  amiable  and 
lovable.  In  adult  years  he  was  regarded  as  a  man  of  deep 
piety,  to  whom  severe  domestic  trials  were  evidently  blessed. 
Refinement  of  taste  and  fondness  for  music  were  character¬ 
istics.  Tears  would  often  testify  to  his  appreciation  of 
good  singing  and  of  softer  instrumental  music.  He  played 
the  flute  with  exquisite  skill. 

A  charming  serenity  marked  his  later  days.  When 
four-score  years  of  age  he  made  the  following  entry  in  his 
diary :  “  My  birthday  shined  upon  me  in  life  and  health, 
able  still  to  preach  the  blessed  Gospel,  and  to  pray  and 
labor  for  the  good  of  my  children,  friends,  and  a  dying 
world,  feeling  as  yet  but  few  of  the  infirmities  of  age,  though 
feeling  increasingly  the  infirmities  and  sins  of  my  spiritual 
condition.”  His  death  occurred  April,  1875,  under  the  roof 
of  a  son-in-law,  Rev.  E.  J.  Montague,  at  Fort  Atkinson, 
Wisconsin. 

Several  of  Dr.  Hooker’s  occasional  sermons  were  pub- 


236 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


lished ;  also  several  addresses  delivered  before  musical  asso¬ 
ciations  ;  besides  tracts  which  were  issued  by  the  American 
Tract  Society.  His  larger  works  were  a  Memoir  of  Sarah 
Lanman ,  wife  of  Dr.  Eli  Smith,  missionary  in  Syria,  and 
a  Life  of  the  Rev .  Thomas  Hooker.  A  smaller  book  bears 
the  title,  Elihu  Lewis  ;  or  the  Fatal  Christmas.  His  closing 
literary  labor  was  the  preparation  of  the  memoir  of  his 
son,  Rev.  Cornelius  Hooker,  the  printed  pages  of  which  did 
not  reach  him  till  after  his  pen  had  been  laid  down  for  the 
last  time. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


MISSIONARY  OFFICIALS. 

It  is  noteworthy  and  an  occasion  for  thanksgiving 
that  the  Eliot  Church  early  became  interested  in  missions, 
both  foreign  and  domestic.  This  was  due  in  part  to  local 
circumstances.  Boston  being  an  administrative  center,  it 
was  almost  inevitable  that  those  holding  official  positions 
connected  with  certain  benevolent  societies  should  have 
their  homes  in  or  near  the  city.  No  other  church  in  the 
land  has  had  occasion  to  record  among  its  members  two 
secretaries  and  a  treasurer  of  the  American  Board,  three 
members  of  the  Prudential  Committee,  three  other  cor¬ 
porate  members  of  that  Board,  and  yet  five  others  who, 
while  on  the  ground  or  after  removal,  became  corporate 
members.  Two  of  our  number  were  also  successively 
Secretaries  of  the  Massachusetts  Home  Missionary  Soci¬ 
ety,  and  one  for  a  long  time  treasurer  of  that  institu¬ 
tion. 

A  word  should  be  devoted  to  the  prevailing  tone  of 
evangelistic  interest  in  this  church.  It  was  apparently 
well  balanced.  The  presence  of  officers  of  the  American 
Board,  so  far  from  overshadowing  or  in  any  way  hindering 
the  cause  of  home  missions,  was  an  effective  help.  Those 
men  knew  well  the  bearing  of  evangelization  in  our  own 


2  38 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


land  upon  the  same  work  in  foreign  lands.  Their  deep 
settled  conviction,  also  inculcated  from  the  pulpit,  was 
that  the  great  salvation  had  no  more  reference  to  the 
people  of  America  than  to  the  people  of  Asia  and  Africa; 
that  it  is  impossible  to  point  out  a  heathen  or  Moham¬ 
medan  on  the  globe  who  is  not  as  truly  entitled  to  the 
gospel  as  any  native  or  immigrant  in  the  United  States; 
that  there  are  simply  two  departments  of  the  one  great 
field  which  is  the  world ;  that  the  warrant  for  entering 
either  is  our  Saviour’s  command,  “  Go,  teach  all  nations  ” 
—  a  commission  never  yet  withdrawn  or  modified.  Chris¬ 
tian  home-work  is  indeed  imperative,  but  not  so  much 
because  in  and  for  our  own  country,  as  because  our  coun¬ 
try  lies  between  the  river  and  the  ends  of  the  earth, 
according  to  bounds  laid  down  in  the  churches’  Magna 
Charta.  To  perform  one  duty  furnishes  no  authority  for 
neglecting  another.  The  liability  is  to  an  underestimate 
of  remoter  claims.  To  disregard  such  claims  is  sure  to 
imperil  domestic  interests;  to  sow  sparingly  in  either  field 
is  to  reap  sparingly  in  both ;  the  hope  of  converting  men 
in  our  own  land  is  not  strengthened  by  neglect  of  our 
antipodes;  local  enterprise  is  stimulated  by  the  thought  of 
regions  beyond.  To  carry  the  war  into  Africa  is  a  pledge 
of  triumph  at  home.  America  for  the  world  —  Christ 
for  all,  and  all  for  Christ  was  the  sentiment.  Narrowness 
makes  the  individual  and  the  world  poorer.  Whatever 
widens  the  field  of  thought  and  Christian  interest  fosters 
spiritual  power;  elevation,  breadth  and  strength  of  char- 


MISSIONARY  OFFICIALS. 


239 


acter  are  achieved  by  being  habitually  conversant  with 
what  is  highest  and  farthest  reaching ;  other  things  equal, 
churches  of  our  Lord  may  expect  to  gather  a  hundred¬ 
fold  harvest  on  their  immediate  plantation  only  when 
they  are  sowing  beside  all  waters. 


I.  RUFUS  ANDERSON,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

It  was  in  1837  that  Dr.  Anderson  removed  his  connec¬ 
tion  from  the  Bowdoin  Street  Church,  Boston,  to  the  Eliot 
Church.  He  was  then  in  the  full  maturity  of  his  powers, 
and  from  that  time  onward  for  more  than  forty  years  his 
counsels  and  cooperation  were  of  the  highest  value  to  us. 

Dr.  Anderson  was  born  at  North  Yarmouth,  Maine, 
August  17,  1796,  his  father  being  then  pastor  of  a  Congre¬ 
gational  church  in  that  place.  An  aunt  of  his  being  the 
wife  of  Dr.  Me  Keen,  the  first  president  of  Bowdoin  College, 
furnished  a  natural  occasion  for  his  entering  that  institution. 
Dr.  Jesse  Appleton,  however,  was  at  the  head  of  Bowdoin 
when  the  class  of  1818  graduated,  and  his  method  with 
Butler’s  Analogy  had  a  well  defined  influence  in  forming 
the  mental  habits  of  this  young  man,  who  ranked  high 
in  his  class. 

Dr.  Anderson’s  interest  in  missions,  and  his  superior 
executive  ability  became  so  well  known  during  his  course 
of  study  at  the  Andover  Theological  Seminary  that  in  the 
midst  of  Senior  studies  he  was  requested  by  Mr.  Evarts, 
then  Secretary  of  the  American  Board,  to  aid  for  a  time  in 


240 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


carrying  on  correspondence  at  the  official  rooms  in  Boston. 
His  permanent  connection  with  the  rooms  began  in  1822; 
his  service  as  assistant  secretary  in  1824;  and  as  corre¬ 
sponding  secretary  in  1832.  His  resignation  took  place  in 
1866,  after  which  he  served  nine  years  on  the  prudential 
committee,  at  whose  meetings,  on  final  retirement,  he  had 
been  present  for  more  than  fifty  years. 

Dr.  Anderson  performed  important  service  by  official 
visits  to  missions  of  the  board.  The  first  of  these  was 
in  1828-29 ;  when,  taking  in  Malta  and  Smyrna,  he  made 
a  tour  through  the  Peloponnesus;  the  second,  1844,  includ¬ 
ing  Athens,  Syria,  and  Asia  Minor;  the  third,  1854-55, 
requiring  an  absence  of  more  than  a  year,  was  paid  to  the 
board’s  missions  in  India;  while  the  fourth,  1863,  was  to 
the  Sandwich  Islands. 

His  contributions  in  the  line  of  authorship  were  im¬ 
portant,  as  four  volumes  on  Missions  of  the  American 
Board ;  The  Memorial  Volume  of  the  First  Fifty  Years 
of  the  Board;  The  Hawaiian  Islands;  the  Memoir  of 
Catherine  Brown;  The  Peloponnesus  and  Greek  Islands; 
and  Lectures  on  Foreign  Missions.  He  was  for  several 
years  editor  of  the  Missionary  Herald.  Numerous  addresses, 
sermons,  tracts,  and  missionary  papers,  as  well  as  portions 
of  the  board’s  annual  reports,  were  the  products  of  an 
able  pen.  Christian  education  had  a  large  place  in  Dr. 
Anderson’s  thoughts.  He  was  active  in  the  founding  of 
Mt.  Holyoke  Seminary,  cooperating  efficiently  with  Mary 
Lyon.  For  a  number  of  years  he  was  one  of  the  trustees 


MISSIONARY  OFFICIALS. 


241 


of  the  Andover  Theological  Seminary,  and  was  president 
of  the  trustees  of  Bradford  Academy. 

Dr.  Anderson  had  the  mind  and  habits  of  a  true 
statesman,  taking  broad  views,  and  maintaining  a  calm 
and  dignified  attitude.  He  exhibited  no  paroxysms  of 
anxiety  and  no  flurry  amidst  a  panic.  A  fine  balance  of 
mental  powers  and  a  masterly  administrative  equilibrium 
at  critical  junctures  secured  for  him  general  confidence 
and  deep  respect.  His  convictions  were  too  well  consid¬ 
ered  and  too  profound  to  be  shaken  by  opposition  or  by 
flattery;  and  he  was  too  conscientiously  earnest  to  bestow 
flattery,  whether  upon  missionaries  or  others.  No  man 
has  served  longer  in  the  same  position ;  and  no  official  has 
probably  made  his  mark  more  distinctly  and  wisely  in  the 
administration  of  foreign  missions.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Venn, 
Senior  Secretary  of  the  English  “  Church  Missionary  So¬ 
ciety,”  said  to  me  in  London  (1853),  “I  am  more  indebted 
to  Dr.  Anderson  for  new  and  valuable  suggestions  in 
regard  to  conducting  missions  than  to  all  other  men  to¬ 
gether.” 

In  childhood  Dr.  Anderson  was  thoroughly  instructed 
in  the  Assembly’s  Shorter  Catechism,  for  which  he  remained 
thankful  to  the  last.  The  doctrines  of  grace  were  the  life 
of  his  spiritual  life.  His  piety  was  not  of  the  emotional 
type,  but  calm,  pervasive,  and  equal  to  any  emergencies. 
His  later  days  seemed  much  like  our  Indian  summer  — 
mild  and  genial,  with  slight  haze  now  and  then,  but  all 
the  while  beautiful  in  mellow  tints.  If  the  thought  of 


242 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


decay  arose  in  the  beholder’s  mind,  it  would  give  place 
to  thoughts  of  a  rich  maturity,  and  of  golden  harvests 
gathered  on  high.  One  of  his  last  utterances  was,  “  The 
future  is  all  bright ;  ”  and  on  the  bright  Sabbath  morning 
of  May  30,  1880,  he  entered  into  rest. 


2.  REV.  DAVID  GREENE. 

Very  few  names  on  the  catalogue  of  this  church  are 
so  well  entitled  to  a  memorial  as  that  of  Rev.  David 
Greene.  He  was  born  in  Stoneham,  Massachusetts,  No¬ 
vember  15,  1791,  and  was  a  brother  of  the  Rev.  Samuel 
Greene,  the  highly  esteemed  pastor  of  Essex  Street  (now 
Union)  Church,  Boston.  He  graduated  from  Yale  Col¬ 
lege  in  the  class  of  1821,  ranking  high  as  a  scholar;  the 
same  being  true  also  at  the  Andover  Theological  Sem¬ 
inary,  where  he  completed  a  course  of  study  in  1826. 
During  the  interim  he  devoted  himself  to  teaching ;  but 
in  1828  received  appointment  as  Assistant  Secretary  of 
the  American  Board  of  Missions.  Soon  thereafter  he  per¬ 
formed  a  journey  of  about  six  thousand  miles,  on  a  visit 
to  mission  stations,  thirty  in  number,  among  the  Indian 
tribes  of  New  York  and  Ohio,  as  well  as  those  to  the 
east  and  west  of  the  Mississippi  River.  It  occupied  eight 
months,  and  the  knowledge  thus  acquired  was  of  great 
value  in  the  subsequent  administration  of  those  missions. 

It  was  not  till  1833  that  Mr.  Greene  received  ordina¬ 
tion,  though  he  was  elected  a  corresponding  secretary  of 


MISSIONARY  OFFICIALS. 


243 


the  forenamed  board  the  year  previous.  Six  years  after 
entering  upon  the  duties  of  this  office  the  practice  began 
of  presenting  at  annual  meetings  of  the  board  carefully 
prepared  papers  in  addition  to  the  usual  reports.  Twelve 
such  came  from  the  pen  of  Mr.  Greene.  Much  of  the 
home  correspondence,  as  well  as  correspondence  with  the 
Indian  missions,  fell  to  him,  besides  editing  the  Mission¬ 
ary  Herald  till  1843.  He  was  associated  with  Mr.  Lowell 
Mason  in  compiling  the  Church  Psalmody ,  a  collection 
of  hymns  for  social  worship,  of  which  not  less  than  one 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  copies  went  into  use  in  our 
churches. 

Mr.  Greene  removed  to  Roxbury  in  the  year  1836, 
and  his  influence  in  the  Eliot  Church  was  of  a  marked 
and  most  happy  character.  His  religious  experience  was 
unusually  deep,  and  his  Christian  character  one  of  unusual 
firmness.  Noticeably  modest,  unpretentious  and  unam¬ 
bitious,  he  yet  carried  great  weight  in  opinions  expressed 
and  remarks  offered. 

Owing  to  an  injury  on  a  railroad  he  felt  constrained, 
greatly  to  the  regret  of  associates,  to  decline  reelection 
as  secretary ;  and  under  medical  advice  removed,  with 
his  family  (1849),  to  a  farm  in  Westborough.  Seventeen 
years  thereafter,  as  men  were  blasting  a  rock  near  his 
house,  a  descending  fragment  inflicted  mortal  injury ;  and 
after  four  days  of  entire  unconsciousness,  he  died,  April 
7,  1866.  At  the  funeral  I  remarked,  for  substance,  as 
follows  :  — 


244 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


Every  acquaintance  of  David  Greene  will  say  that 
his  eye  was  single,  and  hence  his  whole  body  was  full  of 
light.  Rarely  was  he  mystified  ;  with  sophistry  he  had 
no  patience.  There  were  no  stained  windows  to  his 
mind,  and  he  saw  almost  everything  in  a  white  light.  He 
had  rare  insight  into  character  and  into  the  practical 
bearing  of  things.  Never  beguiled  by  forms,  he  would 
fasten  at  once  upon  the  kernel  of  a  matter,  and  discrimi¬ 
nate  between  essentials  and  accessories,  between  the  cer¬ 
tain  and  the  probable.  Vigorous  common  sense  was  the 
staple  of  his  mind.  His  mental  constitution  was  compact, 
and  he  could  concentrate  his  faculties  with  alertness.  A 
noble  simplicity  and  ingenuousness  characterized  him, 
so  that  any  acquaintance  would  be  likely  to  say,  “  Behold 
an  Israelite  indeed,  in  whom  is  no  guile !  ”  He  was  not 
afraid  to  be  lively,  though  too  earnest  a  man  to  drop  into 
levity.  If  there  were  occasion,  he  would  beg  pardon  of  a 
day  laborer  as  soon  as  of  the  governor,  and  in  either 
case  simply  because  of  its  being  right  and  proper.  Mr. 
Greene  was  a  manly  man,  one  whom  nobody  would  sus¬ 
pect  of  aiming  at  popularity,  or  struggling  after  greatness. 
His  influence  for  good  will  linger  long  among  us.  Though 
not  one  to  fascinate,  he  inspired  deep  confidence ;  and  such 
a  man  remains  always  in  office. 

Severe  trials  awaited  him  in  his  later  years.  Besides 
the  necessity  of  retiring  from  favorite  labors  at  the  mis¬ 
sionary  rooms  of  the  Board,  his  dwelling-house  in  West- 
borough  was  destroyed  by  fire,  and  Mrs.  Greene,  a  daugh- 


MISSIONARY  OFFICIALS. 


245 


ter  of  Jeremiah  Evarts,  died  in  1851.  She  left  twelve 
living  children.1 


3.  MISS  MARY  EVARTS  GREENE. 

Heredity  tells.  It  often  reveals  itself  in  beautiful  and 
blessed  manifestations.  Jeremiah  Evarts’  and  the  Rev. 
David  Greene’s  secretaryships  of  the  American  Board 
were  a  prophecy  that  grandchildren  of  the  former  and 
children  of  the  latter  would  do  service  in  the  cause  of 
missions.  Mary  Greene  and  others  of  the  family  fulfilled 
that  prediction.  She  was  born  in  Boston,  April  3,  1832, 
and  graduated  from  Bradford  Academy  at  nineteen,  having 
been  a  member  of  the  Eliot  Church  for  three  years.  Not 
long  after  the  death  of  her  father  she  removed  to  Chicago 
(1868)  and  early  became  Recording  Secretary  of  the 
Woman’s  Board  of  the  Interior,  and  then  Corresponding 
Secretary.  Her  correspondence  with  missionaries  of  that 
Board  and  with  friends  of  the  cause  at  home  was  constant 
and  well  conducted  for  years.  She  also  edited  Mission 
Studies.  Miss  Greene  was  frequently  invited  to  confer 
with  and  to  address  auxiliary  societies.  She  also  gave 
herself,  in  due  proportion,  to  local  Christian  activity,  often 
remarking,  “  All  Christian  work  is  our  work.” 


1  In  the  sketch  of  Mr.  J.  Russell  Bradford  it  will  be  found  that,  as  a 
member  of  the  Prudential  Committee  of  the  American  Board,  he  has  place 
in  this  series.  My  own  service  in  the  same  connection  extended  from  1849- 
1893. 


246 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


While  on  a  visit  in  Wisconsin  for  the  purpose  of 
meeting  ladies  with  reference  to  the  interests  of  the  Board, 
she  met  with  a  severe  injury,  a  compound  fracture,  which 
had  to  do  with  shortening  life.  Her  fortitude  and  patience 
under  suffering  were  remarkable.  Her  able  physician’s 
remarks  were  sometimes  as  truly  a  relief  as  was  his  more 
strictly  medical  treatment.  At  one  time  she  begged  ear¬ 
nestly  to  be  allowed  to  look  over  certain  important  letters 
relating  to  her  department  —  foreign  demands  being  very 
urgent.  The  doctor,  who  was  familiar  with  the  Bible, 
replied  emphatically,  “No;  let  the  heathen  rage;”  and 
she  could  not  resist  being  amused.  Pain  was  mitigated. 

She  was  able  at  length  to  resume  work  to  some  extent. 
Her  enthusiasm  in  the  good  cause  and  her  prayers  were 
most  noteworthy  and  elevating;  but  after  a  short  illness 
there  came,  of  a  Sabbath  morning,  entrance  into  rest  final 
and  complete.  The  following  is  from  a  tribute  adopted 
by  the  W.  B.  M.  I.  at  their  annual  meeting  in  Minneapolis, 
1894:  —  “To  work  with  her  has  been  to  enter  an  atmos¬ 
phere  of  earnest  and  entire  consecration  to  our  Master  — 
to  feel  the  inspiration  of  a  warm  and  living  zeal  in  his 
service  —  a  consecration  which  dated  from  her  earliest 
childhood  —  a  zeal  which  knew  no  wavering,  but  compassed 
her  entire  life.  But  while  we  speak  of  loss  and  bereave¬ 
ment  we  are  conscious  of  possessing  in  her  memory  an 
example  which  we  may  well  cherish  for  our  following. 
Her  unselfish  devotion,  her  quick  and  full  response  to 
every  call  of  duty,  whether  to  do  or  to  suffer  her  Father’s 


MISSIONARY  OFFICIALS. 


247 


will,  her  enthusiasm  for  the  Redeemer’s  kingdom,  which 
led  her  to  labors  even  beyond  her  strength  for  its  upbuild¬ 
ing,  and,  more  than  all,  the  rich  legacy  of  her  earnest  and 
constant  prayer  may  be  ours.” 1 

4.  MRS.  MARY  P.  H.  LEAKE. 

One  son  for  early  service  on  high,  another  son  for 
service  in  the  ministry,  and  an  only  daughter  for  service 
connected  with  missions,  came  from  the  family  of  Mr. 
Henry  Hill.  A  reminiscence  of  my  boyhood  comes  to 
mind,  a  visit  to  my  native  place,  of  Miss  Porter,  the 
daughter  of  Dr.  David  Porter  of  Catskill,  who  was  an 
early  and  well  known  friend  of  the  American  Board. 
Miss  Porter  was  engaged  in  an  undertaking  —  unique  for 
a  young  woman,  and  in  those  days  quite  unprecedented  — 
the  raising  of  a  thousand  dollars  for  foreign  missions. 
She  succeeded.  A  manuscript  card,  afterwards  printed, 
as  follows,  was  sent  to  individuals :  — 

“  Expect  great  things,  and  attempt  great  things.” 
Little  causes  produce  great  effects.  The  poor  heathen 
are  perishing.  We  may  be  the  means  of  saving  them. 
What  we  do  we  must  do  quickly.  Love  thy  neighbor 

as  thyself  is  a  divine  command.  The  Lord  loveth  a 

cheerful  giver.  The  liberal  soul  shall  be  made  fat.  Who 
would  be  ‘  Creation’s  blot,  creation’s  blank,  whom  none 

can  love,  whom  none  can  thank  ’  ?  Rather,  let  the 

heathen  rise  up  and  call  you  blessed.” 


'  Annual  Report,  1894.  p.  30. 


248 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


Miss  Laura  Porter  became  the  wife  of  Henry  Hill, 
Esq.,  who  was  for  more  than  thirty  years  treasurer  of 
the  American  Board.1  Miss  Mary  Porter  Hill  was  a 
native  of  Boston ;  and  her  later  educational  course  was 
at  Wheaton  Seminary  and  Bradford  Academy.  After 
marriage  to  General  Leake  she  removed  to  the  West, 
and  at  length  to  Chicago.  From  1872  she  was  a  Cor¬ 
responding  Secretary  of  the  Woman’s  Board  of  Missions 
of  the  Interior  for  six  years,  and  then  became  and  still 
continues  to  be  the  Treasurer.  Her  pen  is  a  graceful 
one ;  her  services  are  prized  ;  and  it  is  a  most  gratifying 
sight  to  see  such  a  woman  following  in  the  steps  of 
honored  parents  and  of  our  adored  Saviour.  In  1899 
Mrs.  Leake  was  elected  a  corporate  member  of  the 
American  Board. 


5.  REV.  JOSEPH  SYLVESTER  CLARK,  D.D. 

Rev.  Joseph  S.  Clark  hailed  from  the  Old  Colony,  and 
was  a  Pilgrim  of  the  Pilgrims.  According  to  tradition, 
Thomas  Clark,  who  piloted  the  Mayflower  into  Plymouth 
Harbor,  and  from  whom  Clark’s  Island  received  its  name, 
was  an  ancestor.  Dr.  Clark  was  born  December  19,  1800, 
in  South  Plymouth,  on  the  same  spot  where  his  earliest 
American  ancestor,  known  certainly  to  be  such,  lived  six 
generations  previously. 

1  A  sketch  of  Mr.  Hill  will  be  found  among  the  Office-bearers  of  the 
Eliot  Church.  It  might  with  no  less  propriety  be  introduced  among  “Mis¬ 
sionary  Officials.” 


MISSIONARY  OFFICIALS. 


249 


His  classical  education  began  with  a  Latin  grammar 
in  his  pocket  while  at  farm  work.  At  Amherst  College, 
from  which  he  was  graduated  in  1827,  he  led  his  class  and 
became  a  tutor  in  that  institution.  After  studying  theology 
at  Andover  he  was  ordained  and  installed  as  pastor  at  Stur- 
bridge,  Mass.,  1831,  and  during  the  first  year  of  that  pas¬ 
torate  there  were  one  hundred  and  thirty  additions  to  the 
church.  A  seven  years’  ministry,  characterized  by  much 
fidelity  and  success,  resulted  in  impaired  health,  which  led 
to  his  resignation.  Not  long  after  that  he  was  elected  Sec¬ 
retary  of  the  Massachusetts  Missionary  Society  (1839),  and 
removing  to  Roxbury,  he  joined  the  Eliot  Church.  Later 
he  found  it  desirable  to  take  a  house  in  Boston,  greatly  to 
the  regret  of  friends  here.  During  his  eighteen  years’  ser¬ 
vice  as  Secretary  of  the  aforenamed  society  he  became  well 
acquainted  with  the  condition  of  feeble  churches  through¬ 
out  the  Commonwealth,  in  behalf  of  which  his  labors  and 
wise  counsels  were  unwearied.  Dr.  Clark  afterwards  (1858) 
became  secretary  and  financial  agent  of  the  Congregational 
Association,  which  was  greatly  indebted  to  him  for  efforts 
in  raising  funds  toward  the  building  of  the  denominational 
house  —  in  which  efforts  his  health  broke  down.  A  short 
sickness  brought  his  life  to  a  close  in  1861.  At  the 
funeral,  among  many  relatives  and  friends  who  were 
present,  was  his  mother,  then  approaching  one  hundred 
years  of  age.  The  interment  took  place  at  West  Newton, 
where  he  had  resided  for  some  time. 

Dr.  Clark  was  very  methodical  in  his  habits  ;  a  modest 


250 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


and  unambitious  man ;  a  man  of  rare  amiability,  who  made 
and  retained  friends  wherever  he  went.  Before  entering 
upon  official  life  he  was  assiduous  in  Christian  labor  among 
the  neglected ;  and  then,  as  well  as  later,  showed  more 
than  usual  tact  in  being  faithful  without  offending.  He 
entertained  great  reverence  for  the  Puritan  character, 
and  was  well  versed  in  Puritan  history.  A  Historical 
Sketch  of  the  Congregational  Churches  of  Massachusetts 
from  1820  to  1858,  is  a  valuable  work  from  his  pen ;  and 
at  his  decease  he  had  in  hand  material  for  other  volumes 
of  a  historical  character. 


6.  REV.  HENRY  BROWN  HOOKER,  D.D. 

He  was  a  native  of  Rutland,  Vermont,  a  son  of  Thomas 
Hooker,  m.d.,  and  was  born  August  31,  1802.  One  of  his 
ancestors  was  the  Rev.  Thomas  Hooker,  a  man  hounded 
by  pursuivants  of  the  Church  of  England,  who  fled  to 
Holland;  arrived  in  Boston  1633,  and  three  years  later 
headed  a  colony  of  one  hundred  men,  women,  and  children 
on  their  way  amidst  swamps,  over  streams  and  hills,  to 
the  valley  of  the  Connecticut,  a  journey  of  fourteen  days, 
which  is  now  accomplished  in  less  than  four  hours.  Even 
fifty  years  ago  forty-two  ministers  and  forty  women  who 
married  ministers  were  known  to  have  descended  from 
him,  and  those  numbers  must  have  since  increased  con¬ 
siderably.  Dr.  H.  B.  Hooker’s  mother,  a  saintly  woman, 
was  the  daughter  of  Col.  John  Brown,  a  lawyer,  and  an 


MISSIONARY  OFFICIALS. 


25J 


officer  in  our  Revolutionary  War.  He  shared  in  the  cap¬ 
ture  of  Ticonderoga  (1775);  was  at  Quebec  when  Wolfe 
fell;  but  marching  up  the  Mohawk  valley  ( 1 780)  to  relieve 
General  Schuyler,  was  traitorously  led  into  an  ambush 
of  Tories  and  Indians,  and  with  forty-five  others  was  slain 
on  his  birthday,  at  the  age  of  thirty-six.  The  crimson 
sash  which  he  wore  when  carried  from  the  field,  is  still 
in  the  possession  of  his  great-grandchildren. 

Having  graduated  from  Middlebury  College,  1821,  and 
from  the  Andover  Theological  Seminary  three  years  later, 
Dr.  Hooker  soon  received  ordination,  and  labored  for  a 
time  as  Home  Missionary  in  South  Carolina.  His  success¬ 
ful  pastorate  at  Lanesboro,  Massachusetts,  continued  ten 
years  (1826-1836),  and  that  at  Falmouth  twice  as  long 
{1837-1857).  In  the  pulpit  Dr.  Hooker  was  dignified, 
direct,  definite ;  never  suppressing  severe  truths,  and  never 
scolding;  perfectly  free  from  the  affectation  of  smartness; 
always  making  the  impression  that  he  was  a  man  of  God, 
too  intent  upon  his  high  mission  to  waste  one  moment 
in  any  device  of  vanity.  In  prayer  a  joyous,  reverent 
freedom  characterized  him.  As  pastor  he  was  a  model 
man,  active,  impartial,  discreet ;  always  serious,  never 
morose,  and  combining  fidelity  with  kindliness  most 
happily. 

Upon  the  resignation  of  the  beloved  Dr.  Joseph  S. 
Clark,  Dr.  Hooker  was  called  from  Falmouth  to  become 
Secretary  of  the  Massachusetts  Home  Missionary  Society 
(1858).  At  the  meetings  of  the  Executive  Committee, 


252 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


business  requiring  action  was  submitted  in  a  well  arranged 
manner,  his  own  opinion  being  given  with  clearness  and 
decision,  but  without  obstinate  adherence.  His  presenta¬ 
tion  of  the  cause  to  our  churches  was  earnest  and  fresh. 
I  never  heard  a  criticism  upon  his  administration  of  fifteen 
years.  On  resigning  the  position  (1873)  his  labors  were 
still  unabated  so  far  as  strength  would  allow.  Even  the 
last  year  of  life,  at  the  age  of  seventy-eight,  he  preached 
forty-seven  Sabbaths. 

During  the  periods  of  service  as  pastor  and  secretary 
he  furnished  many  contributions  to  the  periodical  press  — 
uniformly  pithy,  graphic,  and  with  a  vein  of  sanctified 
humor  running  through  them.  They  always  had  a  definite, 
practical  aim.  One  of  his  several  tracts,  Are  You  Ready  ? 
has  had  a  circulation  of  about  two  million  of  copies.  It 
was  not  home  work  alone  that  occupied  his  pen  or  his 
thoughts.  Foreign  missions  engaged  heart,  prayers,  and 
contributions.  He  was  a  corporate  member  of  the  Ameri¬ 
can  Board,  and  uniformly  attended  its  annual  meetings 
whatever  the  distance  or  expense;  and  the  elder  of  two 
daughters  was  given  up  for  work  beyond  sea  no  less 
cheerfully  than  if  her  field  had  been  only  trans-Missis¬ 
sippi. 

Religious  hopefulness  was  Dr.  Hooker’s  chief  char¬ 
acteristic.  He  never  deemed  despondency  to  be  any  part 
of  his  duty.  He  had  an  enviable  faculty  of  looking  at 
the  bright  side  of  things,  for  he  looked  through  and 
above  the  clouds  to  where  light  and  peace  always  reign. 


MISSIONARY  OFFICIALS. 


253 


There  was  a  fine  reserve  about  him  that  forbade  all 
profuseness  of  feeling,  all  excess  of  sensibility,  and  all 
promptings  of  egotism.  His  persistent  gladness  of  heart, 
deriving  strength  from  trust  in  God,  was  associated  with 
strong,  religious  good  sense,  which  is  always  worth  much 
more  than  mere  genius. 

During  the  frequent  visits  which  it  was  my  privilege 
to  make  in  the  room  of  Dr.  Hooker’s  last  sickness,  two 
things  were  deeply  impressive ;  one,  the  same  serene  cheer¬ 
fulness  that  had  characterized  his  years  of  health.  For 
more  than  half  a  century  he  had  not  been  confined  to 
the  bed  for  a  single  day.  Summer  and  winter  he  rose 
at  four  o’clock,  and  began  the  day  with  singing.  The 
other  impressive  circumstance  was  his  unflagging  zeal 
for  the  advancement  of  the  Redeemer’s  kingdom.  Looking 
in  upon  him  the  day  of  a  farewell  meeting  at  Pilgrim 
Hall,  I  mentioned  the  destination  of  those  who  were 
about  to  embark,  among  whom  were  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Walter, 
designated  to  the  new  mission  at  Bihe,  in  Southwestern 
Africa.  “  I  lay  awake  most  of  last  night,”  said  he,  “praying 
for  that  mission ;  I  never  prayed  more  for  any  mission 
in  my  life.” 

7.  MR.  BENJAMIN  PERKINS. 

Among  the  brethren  of  the  church  there  was  perhaps 
no  one  more  unobtrusive  and  at  the  same  time  more  ex¬ 
emplary  in  public  religious  duties  than  Mr.  Perkins.  Born 
in  Salem,  Massachusetts,  he  removed  to  Boston,  and  for 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


252 

business  requiring  action  was  submitted  in  a  well  arranged 
manner,  his  own  opinion  being  given  with  clearness  and 
decision,  but  without  obstinate  adherence.  His  presenta¬ 
tion  of  the  cause  to  our  churches  was  earnest  and  fresh. 
I  never  heard  a  criticism  upon  his  administration  of  fifteen 
years.  On  resigning  the  position  (1873)  his  labors  were 
still  unabated  so  far  as  strength  would  allow.  Even  the 
last  year  of  life,  at  the  age  of  seventy-eight,  he  preached 
forty-seven  Sabbaths. 

During  the  periods  of  service  as  pastor  and  secretary 
he  furnished  many  contributions  to  the  periodical  press  — 
uniformly  pithy,  graphic,  and  with  a  vein  of  sanctified 
humor  running  through  them.  They  always  had  a  definite, 
practical  aim.  One  of  his  several  tracts,  A  re  You  Ready  ? 
has  had  a  circulation  of  about  two  million  of  copies.  It 
was  not  home  work  alone  that  occupied  his  pen  or  his 
thoughts.  Foreign  missions  engaged  heart,  prayers,  and 
contributions.  He  was  a  corporate  member  of  the  Ameri¬ 
can  Board,  and  uniformly  attended  its  annual  meetings 
whatever  the  distance  or  expense;  and  the  elder  of  two 
daughters  was  given  up  for  work  beyond  sea  no  less 
cheerfully  than  if  her  field  had  been  only  trans-Missis¬ 
sippi. 

Religious  hopefulness  was  Dr.  Hooker’s  chief  char¬ 
acteristic.  He  never  deemed  despondency  to  be  any  part 
of  his  duty.  He  had  an  enviable  faculty  of  looking  at 
the  bright  side  of  things,  for  he  looked  through  and 
above  the  clouds  to  where  light  and  peace  always  reign. 


MISSIONARY  OFFICIALS. 


253 


There  was  a  fine  reserve  about  him  that  forbade  all 
profuseness  of  feeling,  all  excess  of  sensibility,  and  all 
promptings  of  egotism.  His  persistent  gladness  of  heart, 
deriving  strength  from  trust  in  God,  was  associated  with 
strong,  religious  good  sense,  which  is  always  worth  much 
more  than  mere  genius. 

During  the  frequent  visits  which  it  was  my  privilege 
to  make  in  the  room  of  Dr.  Hooker’s  last  sickness,  two 
things  were  deeply  impressive ;  one,  the  same  serene  cheer¬ 
fulness  that  had  characterized  his  years  of  health.  For 
more  than  half  a  century  he  had  not  been  confined  to 
the  bed  for  a  single  day.  Summer  and  winter  he  rose 
at  four  o’clock,  and  began  the  day  with  singing.  The 
other  impressive  circumstance  was  his  unflagging  zeal 
for  the  advancement  of  the  Redeemer’s  kingdom.  Looking 
in  upon  him  the  day  of  a  farewell  meeting  at  Pilgrim 
Hall,  I  mentioned  the  destination  of  those  who  were 
about  to  embark,  among  whom  were  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Walter, 
designated  to  the  new  mission  at  Bihe,  in  Southwestern 
Africa.  “  I  lay  awake  most  of  last  night,”  said  he,  “  praying 
for  that  mission ;  I  never  prayed  more  for  any  mission 
in  my  life.” 

7.  MR.  BENJAMIN  PERKINS. 

Among  the  brethren  of  the  church  there  was  perhaps 
no  one  more  unobtrusive  and  at  the  same  time  more  ex¬ 
emplary  in  public  religious  duties  than  Mr.  Perkins.  Born 
in  Salem,  Massachusetts,  he  removed  to  Boston,  and  for 


254 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


many  years  the  house  of  Perkins  and  Marvin  was  well 
known  in  the  publishing  and  book-trade  business.  His 
relation  was  transferred  from  the  Pine  Street  Church  to 
the  Eliot  Church  in  its  earlier  days  (1841),  and  his  quiet, 
persistent  fidelity  year  in  and  year  out  became,  as  it 
always  will,  a  power  for  good.  Hasty  and  ill-timed  utter¬ 
ances  were  not  heard  from  his  lips.  Kindness  and  a  calm 
judgment  forbade  severe  criticism  upon  men  or  measures. 
Such  a  man  will  never  have  many  if  any  enemies ;  gen¬ 
eral  respect  and  confidence  will  be  reposed  in  him. 

Mr.  Perkins  had  excellent  musical  taste ;  and  his  well- 
trained  voice  served  good  purpose  in  his  superintendency 
of  a  Mission  Sunday  School,  which  was  afterwards  merged 
in  that  of  Parker  Street,  where  also  he  presided  several 
years.  From  1831  to  1845  Mr.  Perkins  was  Assistant 
Treasurer  of  the  Massachusetts  Home  Missionary  Society. 
From  the  latter  date  to  the  end  of  life  he  was  Treas¬ 
urer.  During  the  early  portion  of  these  thirty-nine  years 
his  services  were  gratuitous.1 

After  three-score  and  ten  years  of  unusually  good 
health,  death  came  in  1870.  I  have  often  thought  what 
an  appropriate  subject  for  the  painter  Mr.  Perkins’  atti¬ 
tude  in  his  last  sickness  would  be  —  falling  asleep,  a  finger 
within  the  New  Testament,  which  he  held  much  of  the 
time,  and  which  was  the  one  supreme  book  for  him. 

‘The  salary  was  raised  successively  —  in  1849  t0  $300;  in  1854  to 
$500;  in  1864  to  $l,ooo. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 


MISSIONARIES. 

It  might  be  expected  that  a  church,  in  which  promi¬ 
nent  members  held  positions  such  as  the  foregoing,  would 
furnish  candidates  for  a  work  so  preeminently  Christian 
as  carrying  the  gospel  to  the  unevangelized.  In  every 
household,  in  every  Sunday  School,  and  in  the  ministra¬ 
tions  of  every  pulpit,  there  should  be  an  aim  and  influence 
looking  to  that  end.  While  a  good  deal  was  done  in 
that  direction  from  time  to  time,  the  result  did  not  wholly 
fulfill  desire  or  expectation.  Still  a  goodly  representation 
here  follows. 


I.  MR.  GEORGE  CHRISTOPHER  HURTER. 

It  is  not  often  that  one  has  acquaintance  with  a  man 
more  conscientious  or  more  kind  than  Mr.  Hurter.  The 
island  of  Malta  was  his  birthplace  (1813),  his  father  being 
Swiss  and  his  mother  an  English  woman.  His  first  voy¬ 
age  was  in  a  transport  employed  to  convey  Egyptian 
troops  to  Alexandria  from  Navarino,  and  not  long  after 
the  famous  naval  action  in  that  bay  (1827).  The  masts 
of  sunken  Turkish  ships  were  still  to  be  seen  above 
water.  Mr.  Hurter,  relinquishing  sea  life,  became  an  ex¬ 
pert  printer,  and  in  that  capacity  served  the  London 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


256 

Missionary  Society  (1828-1835),  being  associated  with  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Lowndes  at  Malta.  That  press  having  been 
given  up,  he  came  to  this  country  with  a  brother-in-law, 
Mr.  Fitzwilliams,  who  was  afterwards  a  secretary  to  the 
Governor  General  of  India.  He  joined  the  Eliot  Church 
in  1838,  and  the  next  year  married  Miss  Elizabeth  Grozer, 
a  sister  of  Mrs.  Deacon  Kittredge. 

In  1840,  owing  partly  to  the  acquaintance  and  in¬ 
fluence  of  the  Rev.  George  B.  Whiting  of  the  Syria  Mis¬ 
sion,  Mr.  Hurter  received  appointment  by  the  American 
Board,  and  went  to  Beirut,  to  have  charge  more  especially 
of  printing  the  Arabic  Bible.  There  he  remained  for 
twenty  years.  In  1863  Mr.  Hurter  visited  the  Sinaitic 
peninsula,  and  made  a  discovery  which,  so  far  as  known, 
is  not  mentioned  in  the  published  work  of  any  previous 
traveler.  On  the  west  side  of  the  Wady  Shu’eib  he 
found  a  spring  of  pure  water  issuing  from  what  he  re¬ 
garded  as  the  “  Rock  Horeb,”  which  consists  of  solid 
red  granite.  In  the  smooth,  perpendicular  face  thereof 
is  a  fissure  about  six  feet  long  and  four  inches  wide.  The 
little  stream  pours  into  a  reservoir  twelve  feet  by  five, 
and  four  feet  deep.  He  gave  an  account  of  this  in  a 
printed  letter  to  Dr.  Park,  professor  in  the  Andover  Theo¬ 
logical  Seminary.  Returning  to  this  country  Mr.  Hurter 
engaged  in  printing  works  in  the  ancient  classic  languages 
and  in  living  foreign  languages. 

His  later  church  relation  was  at  Hyde  Park,  and  his 
pastor,  Rev.  Dr.  P.  B.  Davis,  bears  hearty  testimony  to 


MISSIONARIES. 


257 


his  superior  acquaintance  with  Scripture,  his  regularity 
and  earnestness  in  religious  observances,  and  the  general 
value  of  his  influence.  His  family  life  was  peculiarly 
happy,  and  the  golden  wedding  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hurter 
was  an  occasion  of  special  enjoyment.  He  prepared, 
what  it  would  be  well  if  more  men  did,  a  manuscript 
autobiography  of  about  four  hundred  pages. 

His  departure  (January,  1895)  was  very  sudden,  and 
owing  to  pulmonary  apoplexy.  Returning  home  from 
business  in  Boston  one  day,  he  appeared  to  be  in  usual 
health,  but  before  midnight  of  the  same  day  his  life  on 
earth  had  come  to  an  end,  at  the  age  of  eighty- one,  the 
same  age  as  that  of  his  father.1 

2.  MRS.  ELIZABETH  GROZER  HURTER. 

Was  born  in  Truro,  Massachusetts,  July  28,  1814. 
In  early  childhood  she  came  to  Boston  to  live ;  taught 
school  at  the  West  for  a  time,  and  afterwards  assisted 
her  aunt  in  a  Roxbury  school.  October  2,  1839,  she 
became  the  wife  of  Mr.  George  C.  Hurter,  and  early  in 
1841,  having  been  appointed  to  the  Syrian  Mission,  they 
sailed  for  Beirut.  Modest  and  self-distrustful,  she  yet 
became  very  useful.  The  Arabic  language  she  mastered 
sufficiently  for  all  the  ordinary  requirements  of  reading  and 
speech.  A  large  ministry  among  the  sick  fell  to  her  lot. 
When  the  cholera  prevailed  patients  were  brought,  some- 

1  Norfolk  County  Gazette,  January  5,1 895. 


258 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


times  to  the  number  of  twenty  or  thirty  a  day,  to  her 
door.  Individuals  might  be  seen,  too  sick  to  walk,  crawling 
to  the  house,  where  she  administered  medicine. 

Seasons  of  great  alarm  occurred,  as  during  the  war 
between  the  Druses  and  the  Christians  of  Mount  Lebanon, 
and  the  massacres  of  i860.  One  night  all  the  mission 
families  at  Beirut  had  to  fly  to  the  consulate  for  protection. 
That  was  one  of  the  occasions  when  Mrs.  Hurter  was 
called  upon  to  do  much  for  the  homeless,  the  sick,  and 
the  wounded.  The  next  year  (1861)  she  returned  to  this 
country;  and  her  death  occurred  at  Hyde  Park. 


3.  REV.  DANIEL  CROSBY  GREENE,  D.D. 

The  Rev.  David  Greene,  who  was  for  sixteen  years 
a  Corresponding  Secretary  of  the  American  Board,  and 
his  wife,  Mary  Evarts  Greene,  were  members  of  the  Eliot 
Church  from  1837  t°  1849.  Midway  in  that  period  their 
son,  Daniel  Crosby,  was  born,  February  11,  1843.  Rev. 
Daniel  Crosby,  the  first  pastor  of  the  Winthrop  Church, 
Charlestown,  a  man  warmly  interested  in  foreign  missions, 
was  a  college  acquaintance  at  Yale,  and  later  an  intimate 
friend  of  Secretary  Greene.  Mr.  Crosby’s  death  occurred 
in  1842,  and  his  name  was  worthily  borne  by  the  Board’s 
first  missionary  to  Japan.  Neither  of  the  parents,  however, 
lived  to  rejoice  over  the  destination  of  their  son.  In  the 
meantime  he  spent  one  year  at  Middlebury  College,  but 
graduated  at  Dartmouth  in  1864.  For  two  years  he  was 


MISSIONARIES. 


259 


engaged  in  teaching  at  the  West,  and  then  entered  the 
Chicago  Theological  Seminary;  but  after  a  single  year 
removed  to  the  Seminary  at  Andover  and  graduated  there 
in  1869. 

He  was  the  first  son  of  any  official  at  the  Rooms 
of  the  American  Board  to  be  commissioned  as  a  missionary. 
After  his  ordination  and  marriage  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Greene 
sailed  from  San  Francisco,  and  landed  at  Yokohama 
November  30,  1869.  In  the  spring  of  the  year  following 
they  removed  to  Kobe.  Two  years  later  Dr.  Greene  was 
assigned  with  J.  C.  Hepburne,  m.d.,  and  the  Rev.  S.  R. 
Brown,  d.d.,  to  the  work  of  translating  the  Scriptures, 
which  work  was  carried  on  at  Yokohama.  Their  Japanese 
version  of  the  New  Testament  was  published  in  1880. 
After  a  furlough  in  the  United  States,  Dr.  Greene  became 
one  of  the  Faculty  in  the  Doshisha  College  (1881)  as 
instructor  in  Old  Testament  literature ;  but  after  ten  years 
he  removed  to  Tokyo. 

The  governmental  and  other  changes  which  have 
taken  place  within  a  period  so  recent  as  the  introduction 
of  Protestant  Christianity  into  that  empire  are  among  the 
marvels  of  this  last  half  century.  To  the  writer  it  seems 
somewhat  like  a  dream  to  look  back  as  far  as  May  21, 
1843,  when  the  name  Daniel  Crosby  was  publicly  pro¬ 
nounced  and  sacramental  water  was  applied  to  an  infant 
forehead;  then  calling  to  mind  July  28,  1869,  when  the 
right  hand,  with  others,  was  placed  on  the  same  head 
in  an  ordaining  service ;  and  now  to  contemplate  still 


260 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


the  same  head  as  what  Solomon  pronounced  “  A  crown 
of  glory.” 

4.  MRS.  MARY  CARPENTER  PARIS. 

Mary  Carpenter  was  a  cousin  of  Mrs.  Dr.  Rufus  An¬ 
derson,  and  was  for  a  time  a  member  of  that  family  and 
of  the  Eliot  congregation  in  the  early  years  of  my  pas¬ 
torate.  She  was  born  in  New  York  City,  January  21, 
1815,  and  in  1851  married  Rev.  John  D.  Paris,  a 
missionary  of  the  American  Board  in  the  Hawaiian 
Islands.  He  died  at  Kaawaloa,  1893  I  and  Mrs.  Paris 
died  four  years  later. 

5.  MRS.  LOUISA  BRADBURY  BUNKER. 

The  daughter  of  Hon.  Samuel  Adams  Bradbury,  a 
descendant  from  the  Bradburys  of  Alluset,  England,  was 
born  in  Boston,  June  27,  1844.  In  the  chancel  of  St. 
Margaret’s  Church,  Wilken  Bonent,  are  fifteen  memorials 
of  the  family  (1637-1744),  and  a  suggestive  inscription 
may  be  read :  “  Through  ye  mercies  of  Christ  my  Saviour 
I  trust  for  sins  forgiven.”  There  have  been  many  minis¬ 
ters  of  the  Gospel  in  the  line.  The  earliest  ancestor  in 
this  country  was  Thomas  Bradbury,  agent  of  Fer¬ 
nando  Gorges,  1620.  His  wife  was  one  of  those  who 
were  condemned  for  witchcraft  at  Salem  (1692);  but  she 
escaped  through  the  intercession  of  a  friend. 

Mrs.  Bunker  had  been  in  the  habit  of  prayer  from 
infancy,  but  dates  her  conversion  and  the  beginning  of 


MISSIONARIES. 


261 


genuine  spiritual  life  in  the  year  1857,  an<^  speaks  of  in¬ 
debtedness  to  the  pastor  of  this  church  and  to  her  Sunday 
School  teacher.  Owing  to  a  change  of  views  regarding 
one  of  the  ordinances,  she  removed  her  relation  seven 
years  afterwards  to  the  Baptist  Church  in  Hyde  Park. 
But  tender  memories  are  ever  awakened  upon  the  thought 
of  the  Eliot  Church,  “  somewhat  as  when  she  sings  Jeru¬ 
salem  the  golden.” 

Her  marriage  to  Rev.  Alonzo  Bunker,  d.  d.,  took 
place  September  5,  1865  ;  and  two  months  later  they 
arrived  at  Toungoo,  British  Burmah.  She  was  the  first 
of  her  family  to  enter  upon  foreign  mission  work,  but 
since  then  several  of  them  have  gone  to  Africa,  India  and 
Japan.  The  efforts  of  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Bunker  have  been 
in  behalf  of  the  “  Hill  Tribes,”  or  Karens,  who  are  demon¬ 
worshippers.  Various  dialects  are  spoken  by  them.  At 
that  time  there  was  a  sad  division  among  them,  owing  to 
the  influence  of  a  missionary  woman  who  seemed  to  be 
mentally  unbalanced.  After  the  toil  of  a  decade  har¬ 
mony  came  at  last,  and  the  nine  churches  of  their  field 
had  multiplied  to  thirty-nine  at  the  close  of  the  twelfth 
year,  and  their  schools  were  largely  self-supporting.  There 
are  now  eighty-five  churches. 

Mrs.  Bunker’s  labors  were  incessant  and  efficient.  In 
her  husband’s  absence  for  months  while  touring,  she  would 
take  charge  of  the  home  station  Training  School.  A 
large  amount  of  medical  work  also  came  to  her  hands, 
amounting  often  to  twenty  cases  a  day.  Native  pastors 


262 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


were  in  the  habit  of  coming  to  her  in  their  difficulties 
about  doctrinal  and  other  matters ;  and  no  small  amount 
of  patience  and  tact  were  required.  She,  too,  made  tours 
with  Dr.  Bunker,  over  mountains  and  through  forests,  for 
the  sake  of  Christian  work  among  women  in  the  jungles. 
It  is  not  strange  that  health  should  be  completely  broken 
down,  and  that  a  prolonged  furlough  at  home  should  be 
required  for  recovery  sufficient  to  authorize  a  renewed 
campaign  in  Burmah. 

6.  MRS.  MARIA  CHAMBERLAIN  FORBES. 

Was  a  daughter  of  Mr.  Lewis  Chamberlain.  Her 
birth  dates  at  Honolulu,  Hawaiian  Islands,  April  25,  1832. 
In  early  youth  she  attended  Punahau  School;  and  after¬ 
wards  coming  to  this  country  she  entered  Mount  Holyoke 
Seminary,  where  her  hopeful  conversion  took  place.  In 
1852  she  joined  the  Eliot  Church  on  confession  of  her 
faith,  at  the  same  time  with  Mary  Ballantine.  December 
21,  1858,  she  was  married  to  Rev.  Anderson  O.  Forbes, 
and  went  with  her  husband  to  the  island  of  Molokai, 
where  he  was  pastor  of  the  old  mission  church  founded 
by  Mr.  Hitchcock.  After  a  few  years  of  service  there 
they  removed  to  Honolulu,  and  Mr.  Forbes  was  called 
to  the  second  native  church.  Thence  they  went  to  the 
Lahainaluna  Seminary  on  the  island  of  Maui,  where  Mr. 
Forbes  was  engaged  in  teaching  for  several  years,  till 
called  to  the  pastorate  of  the  foreign  church  in  Hilo. 
His  next  removal  was  to  Honolulu  as  Secretary  of  the 


MISSIONARIES. 


263 


Hawaiian  Board  of  Missions,  which  office  he  held  till 
his  death  in  1888. 

Mrs.  Forbes  speaks  with  liveliest  interest  of  the  kind¬ 
ness  of  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Anderson  in  furnishing  a  home  for 
her  in  Roxbury.  Now  for  many  years  she  has  been  the 
manager  of  the  Lunalino  Home,  which  was  founded  by 
one  of  the  last  Hawaiian  kings  for  the  benefit  of  aged 
and  homeless  natives.  The  institution  has  about  fifty 
inmates.  Mrs.  Forbes  is  a  very  energetic,  useful,  and 
much  respected  woman. 

7.  MRS.  MARY  BALLANTINE  FAIRBANK. 

Among  the  nine  individuals  who  joined  this  church 
in  September,  1852,  was  a  group  of  young  ladies,  nearly 
the  same  in  age  and  stature.  A  special  interest  attached 
to  each  of  the  three.  One  of  them  was  Marcia  Evelina 
Atkins,  modest  and  lovely,  but  pallid,  and  already  awaken¬ 
ing  the  fear  of  friends  lest  she  might  become  the  victim 
of  pulmonary  disease.  Two  years  later  came  her  funeral. 
Another,  Maria  Chamberlain,  the  daughter  of  a  mission¬ 
ary,  was  born  in  Hawaii,  and  is  mentioned  in  the  preced¬ 
ing  sketch.  Beside  her,  on  the  occasion  referred  to,  stood 
Mary  Ballantine,  who  claimed  Bombay  as  her  birthplace, 
though  her  parents  removed  during  her  infancy  to  Ahmed- 
nagar  in  Western  India.  She  was  a  daughter  of  Dr. 
Henry  Ballantine,  one  of  the  best  known  men  who  have 
gone  from  this  country,  in  connection  with  the  American 


264 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


Board,  to  that  land  where  spiritual  darkness  reigns,  but 
where  the  sun  shineth  in  his  strength.  She  was  born 
September  10,  1836,  and  came  to  this  country  for  better 
educational  advantages.  The  family  of  Dr.  Rufus  Ander¬ 
son  welcomed  her  much  as  they  would  a  daughter  of 
their  own. 

This  beloved  Mary  was  noticeably  blameless  in  de¬ 
portment  ;  was  amiable  and  cheerful  much  beyond  the 
average  of  young  women.  Her  bright  countenance  re¬ 
vealed  a  captivating  ingenuousness.  She  had  been  in  the 
habit  of  daily  prayer  for  a  long  time  ;  but  after  two  years 
spent  here  she  became  convinced  that  her  devotions  were 
far  from  what  they  should  be  ;  that  she  had  never  appre¬ 
hended  her  sinfulness  and  the  consequent  divine  condem¬ 
nation  ;  that  all  which  is  threatened  in  the  Word  of 
God  to  those  dying  impenitent  was  deserved ;  and  that 
there  was  no  salvation  for  her  except  by  Jesus  Christ. 
New  tastes,  hopes  and  joys  followed.  Pleasing  as  her 
countenance  and  manner  had  always  been,  there  was  now 
an  added  charm.  Although  forty-eight  years  have  elapsed 
since  she  presented  herself  to  assent  publicly  to  the  arti¬ 
cles  of  faith  and  covenant  of  the  Eliot  Church,  I  call  to 
mind  distinctly  the  expression  on  her  face  at  that  time. 
Her  countenance,  always  bright,  was  now  radiant  as  if  a 
gleam  from  the  Mount  of  Transfiguration  had  fallen  on 
that  precious  young  disciple.  No  cloud  afterwards  seemed 
ever  to  gather  over  her.  When  asked  for  a  written 
opinion  with  reference  to  Miss  Ballantine’s  appointment 


MISSIONARIES. 


265 


as  an  assistant  missionary  (1856),  Mrs.  Anderson  wrote  as 
follows : 

“  She  has  good  health  with  uniform  cheerfulness  and 
buoyancy  of  spirit.  She  has  a  good  mind,  well  balanced, 
and  was  considered  one  of  their  first  scholars  at  the 
Seminary  at  South  Hadley.  She  has  uncommon  industry 
and  tact  in  all  practical  matters  relating  to  household 
duties.  Her  piety  is  of  a  high  order.  I  have  never 
known  a  young  person  of  more  spirituality  of  mind,  or 
who  lived  habitually  with  such  nearness  to  the  Saviour. 
Her  love  for  the  missionary  work  is  the  ruling  motive  in 
all  her  plans  and  acquirements,  and  this  has  been  the  case 
ever  since  I  have  been  acquainted  with  her.  She  has 
been  in  our  family  for  months  at  a  time,  and  I  have  felt 
daily  impressed  that  she  had  in  every  respect  a  peculiar 
fitness  for  the  missionary  work.  I  have  never  seen  a 
young  person  who  seemed  to  promise  greater  usefulness 
in  that  work.” 

Standing  in  the  same  aisle  above  referred  to  —  the 
church  filled  with  spectators  —  she  was  joined  in  marriage, 
July,  1856,  with  Rev.  Dr.  S.  B.  Fairbank  of  the  Mahratta 
Mission.  Scores  upon  scores  of  friends  gave  a  hearty  God¬ 
speed  to  the  “  beloved  Persis  who  labored  much  in  the 
Lord.”  Her  children,  one  of  whom  is  the  wife  of  a  mis¬ 
sionary  at  Ahmednagar,  two  other  unmarried  daughters 
and  two  sons  in  the  same  mission  “arise  up  and  call  her 
blessed.”  In  1878  Mrs.  Fairbank  entered  into  rest,  enter¬ 
ing  at  the  same  time  yet  more  fully  “  into  the  joy  of  the 
Lord.” 


266 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


8.  MRS.  HARRIET  S.  CASWELL. 

As  Miss  Harriet  S.  Clark  she  was  for  a  time  in  the 
infant  class  of  our  Sunday  School  (1839).  We  are  un¬ 
willing  to  allow  that  even  so  slight  a  connection  is  not 
sufficient  to  authorize  some  mention  here  of  one  so  long 
and  so  useful  in  the  Master’s  service.  At  the  twenty-fifth 
anniversary  of  our  school  a  letter,  addressed  to  the  children, 
came  from  her  hand,  speaking  of  the  sweet  hymns  she 
there  learned  and  the  singing  which  she  so  much  enjoyed. 
The  letter,  very  sprightly  and  pleasing,  was  written  at 
the  Cattaraugus  Reservation  for  the  Seneca  Indians,  where 
she  labored  successfully  seventeen  years  as  a  teacher,  and 
in  connection  with  the  Orphan  Asylum  which  had  been 
opened  in  behalf  of  that  tribe.  It  was  my  pleasure  to 
be  one  of  the  party  when  her  father,  Rev.  Joseph  S. 
Clark,  d.d.,  accompanied  her  to  that  mission  in  the  south¬ 
west  corner  of  New  York.  It  was  the  autumn  of  1853, 
and  I  had  the  gratification  of  preaching  to  the  Indians, 
Deacon  Silver- Heels  serving  as  interpreter.  A  more 
attentive  or  better  behaved  congregation  I  never  wit¬ 
nessed. 

Miss  Clark  was  adopted  into  the  Seneca  nation,  an 
honor  more  full  of  meaning  and  more  fruitful  than  the 
freedom  of  a  city,  which  is  sometimes  tendered  to  strangers 
by  a  white-man’s  municipality.  They  gave  her  an  Iroquois 
name,  Go-wah-dah-dyah-seh,  “  She  pushes  us  ahead.”  This 
was  happily  significant  of  her  success  in  endeavors  to 
elevate  the  people.  Her  book  entitled  Our  Life  Among 


MISSIONARIES. 


267 


the  Iroquois  Indians ,  by  Mrs.  Harriet  S.  Caswell ’  is  as 
graphic  and  entertaining  as  any  story-book,  with  the  ad¬ 
vantage  of  being  strictly  true.  It  is  a  work  of  over  three 
hundred  pages,  issued  by  the  Congregational  Sunday 
School  and  Publishing  Society. 

After  her  return  East  Mrs.  Caswell  was  active  in 
the  Boston  North  End  Charities  for  Working  Women. 
She  was  at  one  time  editor  of  the  Home  Missionary , 
and  is  now  Secretary  of  the  Woman’s  Department  of 
the  Congregational  Home  Missionary  Society. 

9.  MRS.  JANE  HERRING  LOOMIS. 

The  youngest  daughter  of  the  Rev.  David  Greene,  and 
was  born  in  Roxbury,  June  14,  1845;  graduated  from  the 
Young  Ladies’  Seminary,  Auburn,  N.  Y.,  and  for  over  ten 
years  a  teacher  in  the  same.  In  1863  she  united  with  the 
Congregational  Church  at  Westborough,  Mass.,  and  was 
later  transferred  to  the  Fourth  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church, 
New  York  City. 

She  married  (1872)  Rev.  Henry  Loomis,  who  was 
then  under  appointment  to  the  Japan  Mission  of  the 
American  Presbyterian  Board  of  Foreign  Missions.  Mr. 
Loomis  had  served  in  the  146th  Regiment  of  Volunteers. 
Enlisting  as  a  private  he  was  promoted  to  the  captaincy 
of  a  company,  and  fought  in  twenty-seven  engagements. 
He  was  present  at  Lee’s  surrender;  and  when  peace  was 
restored,  resumed  study  at  Hamilton  College,  graduating 
in  1 866,  and  from  Auburn  Theological  Seminary  three 


268 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


years  later.  In  May,  1872,  they  reached  Yokohama,  a  little 
before  the  first  Protestant  Church  in  Japan,  now  known  as 
the  Kaigan  (Seaside)  Church  of  Yokohama,  was  organized; 
and  in  connection  with  that  they  entered  upon  their  work 
with  great  earnestness.  Hardly  four  years,  however,  had 
gone  by,  when  Mrs.  Loomis’  health  gave  way,  and  they 
were  obliged  to  return  home. 

In  the  Spring  of  1881  Mr.  Loomis  was  appointed 
agent  of  the  American  Bible  Society  for  Japan,  and  in  the 
Autumn  following,  Mrs.  Loomis  joined  him  at  Yokohama 
once  more.  Besides  the  work  of  Bible  distribution,  which, 
during  his  superintendence,  has  probably  reached  two  mil¬ 
lion  portions  of  Scripture,  they  have  dong  a  good  deal 
for  Chinese  residents  in  Yokohama,  for  foreign  sailors  in 
that  port,  and  for  prisoners  in  the  consular  jails.  Their 
home  has  been  a  rallying  place  for  Christians,  both  native 
and  foreign.  Mrs.  Loomis  is  a  deaconess  in  the  Union 
Church  of  Yokohama. 

IO.  REV.  DAVID  COIT  SCUDDER. 

At  the  quarter-century  celebration  of  the  Eliot  Sun¬ 
day  School  (1859),  Mr.  Scudder,  in  closing  an  excellent 
address  said :  “  One  day  about  eight  years  ago  —  I  re¬ 
member  it  well  —  I  was  playing  at  my  home  here  in  Rox- 
bury.  I  happened  to  look  up  and  saw  our  pastor  coming 
toward  the  house.  It  was  the  annual  day  of  prayer  for 
colleges,  and  I  at  once  thought  that  he  had  come  to  talk 
to  me  about  my  soul.  I  did  not  want  to  see  him,  and 


MISSIONARIES. 


269 


ran  and  hid  myself.  I  was  soon  called  in,  however.  He 
took  me  by  his  side,  talked  with  me  kindly  but  seriously, 
and  as  he  was  leaving  asked  me  to  mark  in  my  Bible  the 
eighth  verse  of  the  twenty-seventh  Psalm.  I  did  so.  Time 
passed  on,  and  my  thoughtlessness  continued.  But  about 
a  year  afterwards,  when  that  moment  came  to  me,  as  it 
always  does  once  at  least  to  every  man  —  the  moment 
when  I  saw  that  I  had  been  seeking  the  world  and  its 
pleasures,  and  felt  that  they  were  tasteless  —  I  remember 
taking  my  Bible  and  often  looking  at  that  verse :  ‘  When 
Thou  saidst,  Seek  ye  my  face,  my  heart  said  unto  Thee, 
Thy  face,  Lord,  will  I  seek.’  It  was  not  long  before  I 
sought  his  face  and  found  peace.” 

The  family  had  for  some  time  resided  in  Roxbury 
and  worshiped  at  the  Eliot  Church.  David  was  born  in 
Boston,  October  27,  1835.  His  father,  Deacon  Charles 
Scudder,  was  well  known  in  the  business  world  as  a  man 
of  inflexible  integrity,  and  in  the  religious  world  as  a  wise 
counsellor  and  a  devout  Christian,  carrying  a  countenance 
and  possessing  a  character  full  of  sunshine. 

In  boyhood  this  son  was  noticeably  energetic,  frolic¬ 
some,  and  impetuous,  qualities  that  were  afterwards  modi¬ 
fied,  but  always  remained  characteristics.  An  impulse  to 
run  and  to  shout  was  inborn.  Preparation  for  college  was 
at  the  Latin  Schools  of  Boston  and  Roxbury,  and  he 
graduated  from  Williams  in  the  class  of  1855.  The  home 
was  a  center  of  missionary  influence,  and  a  home  for  mis¬ 
sionaries.  Among  them  it  is  natural  to  name  Dr.  John 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


270 

Scudder,  though  his  relationship  was  at  a  remove  of  six 
generations.  In  David’s  mind,  to  be  a  Christian  and  to 
be  a  missionary  had  always  seemed  one  and  the  same. 
Accordingly  when  converted,  during  his  college  course 
his  mercurial  spirit  led  at  once  to  thoughts  of  foreign 
service,  which  always  presented  attractions.  Parental 
wishes  were  also  thus  met ;  and  his  consecration  was 
hearty  and  complete.  Native  exuberance  might  be  grad¬ 
ually  curbed,  but  would  still  overflow.  Bishop  Hannington, 
whose  tragic  end  came  later  (1886)  in  Central  Africa,  had 
a  temperament  and  traits  similar  to  those  of  David  Scudder. 
The  adoption  of  a  high  and  holy  purpose  by  our  young 
friend  transformed  him  in  a  measure,  making  a  man  out 
of  the  boy.  Aims  and  methods  of  study,  and  the  direction 
of  an  earnestness  that  never  flagged,  took  on  a  new  type. 
Cheeriness  and  frankness  were  unabated ;  conventionality 
never  mastered  him.  During  the  remainder  of  his  course 
at  Williamstown,  and  afterwards  at  Andover,  he  gave  him¬ 
self  unremittingly  to  preparation  for  evangelistic  work, 
especially  in  India,  grappling  with  the  Tamil  language, 
studying  the  history,  religion,  and  philosophy  of  the  people, 
and  at  the  same  time  endeavoring  to  enlist  fellow  students 
in  a  personal  devotion  to  the  foreign  service.  His  pen 
was  employed  in  contributions  to  the  press.  A  package 
of  his  tracts  for  children,  Tales  about  the  Heathen ,  was 
issued  by  the  Tract  Society  in  Boston.  He  delivered  ad¬ 
dresses  to  Sunday  Schools  and  juvenile  societies;  at  the 
same  time  engaging  in  something  besides  talk.  He  under- 


MISSIONARIES. 


271 


took  a  Bible  agency  in  New  Jersey  and  tract  distribution 
in  Boston.  Having  graduated  at  Andover  (1859),  he  re¬ 
ceived  ordination  in  Boston,  February  25,  1861.  It  has 
never  been  the  lot  of  the  writer  to  take  part  in  such  a 
service  with  feelings  of  deeper  interest  than  at  that  time. 
The  next  evening  he  was  married  to  the  daughter  of 
another  deacon  of  the  Essex  Street  Church.  Dr.  N.  Adams 
baptized  both  bride  and  bridegroom  in  infancy,  and  received 
both  of  them  into  the  visible  Christian  fold. 

Before  graduating  from  college,  India  had  become 
David’s  first  thought  in  the  morning,  and  was  uniformly 
present  in  his  mind.  Catching  sight  of  the  coast  south 
of  Madras  (June  25,  1861),  he  entered  in  his  journal:  “My 
home  is  at  hand.  My  work  is  before  me.  India  is  to  be 
the  Lord’s.  How  soon  ?  ”  The  next  year  he  was  put  in 
charge  of  the  mission  district  of  Periakulam,  about  fifty 
miles  northwest  from  Madura.  He  had  just  entered  his 
twenty-eighth  year,  and  was  to  be  on  missionary  ground 
only  a  year  and  a  half.  November  nineteenth  he  had  occa¬ 
sion,  in  touring,  to  cross  a  river,  which  was  suddenly 
swollen  by  recent  rains.  He  was  a  good  swimmer;  but 
when  halfway  across,  there  came  down  the  stream  a  vast 
volume  of  water  from  a  great  tank  which  had  given  way. 
No  human  strength  was  equal  to  the  emergency,  and  our 
friend  was  drowned.  In  a  churchyard  on  a  little  hillside 
at  Kodi  Kanal  may  be  seen  a  memorial  stone  with  the 
inscription : 

David  Coit  Scudder. 

“  He  leadeth  me  beside  the  still  waters.” 


272 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


II.  MISS  ELLEN  MARIA  STONE. 

The  daughter  of  Mr.  Benjamin  F.  Stone,  one  of  the 
original  members  of  this  church.  The  ancestors  in  each 
direct  parental  line  back  to  the  earliest  arrival  in  New 
England  were  church  members.  June  4,  1848,  the  father 
and  mother  presented  for  baptism  two  children,  one  of 
whom,  then  two  years  old,  was  named  Ellen  Maria ,  for 
a  missionary  who  had  been  the  mother’s  Sunday  School 
teacher.  At  that  time  the  mother  consecrated  this  child 
to  missionary  service,  a  circumstance  not  made  known 
to  the  daughter  till  she  was  weighing  the  subject  with 
reference  to  offering  herself  to  the  American  Board.  In 
her  written  offer  of  service  occurs  the  following :  — 

“  Though  often  thoughtful  upon  the  subject  of  my 
personal  relations  and  duty  to  God,  from  the  days  when 
Dr.  Thompson  used  to  ask  me,  ‘  My  little  girl,  do  you 
love  God?’  yet  it  was  not  till  March,  1866,  during  a 
revival  of  marked  power,  that  I  gave  my  life  to  God’s 
service.  In  July  following,  with  about  a  hundred  others, 
I  was  received  to  the  church.”  It  was  the  First  Church 
in  Chelsea,  Dr.  A.  H.  Plumb,  Pastor,  the  family  having 
removed  to  that  city.  Miss  Stone  speaks  of  the  Maternal 
Association,  of  which  Mrs.  Dr.  Anderson  was  largely 
the  life,  and  of  the  influence  of  Quarterly  meetings,  and 
of  books  and  cards  then  given  to  children. 

Her  immediate  call  to  missionary  service  was  by  a 
sermon  of  Dr.  E.  K.  Alden,  1878.  She  had  had  for  years 
an  agreeable  and  useful  position  on  the  editorial  staff 


MISSIONARIES. 


273 


of  the  Congregationalist ;  she  was  in  charge  of  the  Sunday 
School  Primary  Department  —  a  very  large  one  —  of  the 
First  Church  in  Chelsea;  but  the  Macedonian  cry  seemed 
imperative ;  and  going  to  Samokov,  Bulgaria,  she  became 
connected  with  the  Girls’  Boarding  School  of  that  city. 
Contributions  from  her  graphic  pen  relating  to  that  insti¬ 
tution,  and  to  other  departments  of  the  good  work,  have 
appeared  in  News  from  Bulgaria ,  in  the  Missionary 
Herald ,  and  Life  and  Light ,  as  well  as  Mission  Dayspring. 
Among  those  contributions  will  be  found  many  and  inter¬ 
esting  incidents  and  narratives.  Since  1882  Miss  Stone 
has  had  charge  of  the  field  work,  or  touring  among  the 
Bible  women  and  teachers  of  schools  connected  with 
the  evangelical  communities.  On  her  late  needed  vacation, 
after  many  years  of  work,  she  addressed  numerous  gather¬ 
ings  of  ladies,  and  of  young  people  in  the  Endeavor 
meetings  or  in  Sunday  Schools.  These  addresses  were 
instructive,  and  wisely  suited  to  the  object  and  the 
occasion.  Her  visits  to  the  Eliot  Church  were  peculiarly 
welcome  and  stimulating.  Missionary  work  in  Bulgaria, 
that  land  of  a  newly-born  nation,  is  increasingly  her 
delight. 

12.  MISS  ANNA  WELLS  BUMSTEAD. 

The  Rev.  Robert  W.  Hume  and  Mrs.  Hume,  mis¬ 
sionaries  of  the  American  Board  in  India,  on  their  way 
hence  (1854),  stopped  at  Cape  Town,  where  Mr.  Hume 
died.  Through  Mrs.  Hume  a  copy  of  the  life  of  Mary 
Lyon  came  into  the  hands  of  Dr.  Murray,  pastor  of  the 


274 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


Dutch  Reformed  Church  at  Wellington,  a  well-known 
author  of  devotional  books.  That  led  to  the  founding 
(1874)  of  the  “Huguenot  Seminary”  at  Wellington,  forty 
miles  northeast  from  Cape  Town.  It  was  designed  for 
daughters  of  European  settlers  in  South  Africa.  A  mis¬ 
sionary  element  entered  into  the  thought  of  its  founder, 
as  was  the  case  with  its  prototype,  the  Mount  Holyoke 
Seminary.  The  institution  took  its  name  from  Huguenot 
refugees,  who,  after  the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes, 
settled  in  that  neighborhood.  It  has  been  signally  blessed. 
Many  pupils  have  been  converted.  Stimulated  by  the 
Report  of  the  Woman’s  Board  of  Missions  in  Boston,  a 
society  was  started  among  them  in  1878.  More  than 
forty  Alumnae  are  now  scattered  over  South  and  Central 
Africa,  engaged  in  Christian  work  at  the  diamond  mines 
and  the  gold  fields ;  also  in  Mashonaland  as  well  as  on 
the  Zambezi,  and  as  far  north  as  Lake  Nyassa.  Through 
their  instrumentality  not  a  few  of  the  heathen  have  been 
Christianized.  Young  women  of  the  seminary  have  availed 
themselves  of  the  Cape  University  examinations;  and  thus 
more  than  five  hundred  Christian  teachers  have  been  fill¬ 
ing  positions  of  influence  in  mission,  farm,  and  government 
schools. 

Miss  Bumstead,  a  native  of  Boston,  and  grand¬ 
daughter  of  the  venerable  Deacon  Josiah  Bumstead,  re¬ 
ceiving  appointment  as  art  teacher,  sailed  for  Cape  Town 
by  way  of  England,  1882.  During  her  five  years’  service 
at  the  Huguenot  Seminary,  in  drawing  and  water  colors, 


MISSIONARIES. 


275 


she  had  a  share  in  Bible  instruction,  and  in  conducting 
devotional  meetings,  as  well  as  certain  other  responsibili¬ 
ties.  Her  service,  though  not  formally,  was  really  in  the 
line  of  mission  work.  Three  or  four  branch  seminaries 
have  been  formed,  besides  a  college  at  Wellington ;  and 
in  1897  these  institutions  reported  a  membership  of  eight 
hundred. 

Miss  Bumstead  is  now  a  representative  in  this  coun¬ 
try  of  the  South  African  General  Mission,  of  which  Rev. 
Andrew  Murray  is  president.  She  collects  funds,  and 
during  one  part  of  the  year  a  weekly  half-hour  prayer 
meeting  for  the  cause  is  held  in  Boston. 

13.  MISS  MARY  G.  BUMSTEAD. 

A  younger  sister  of  Miss  Anna  Bumstead,  and  a  de¬ 
scendant  of  Thomas  Bumstead,  who,  coming  from  England 
in  1640,  united  with  the  First  Church,  Roxbury,  of  which 
John  Eliot  was  pastor.  He  afterwards  removed  to  Boston, 
taking  a  letter  to  the  Old  South  Church.  There  were 
members  of  that  name  in  successive  generations,  till  Josiah 
Bumstead,  grandfather  of  these  two  young  ladies,  left  the 
Old  South  to  form,  with  others,  the  Park  Street  Church 
of  Boston.  In  that  he  was  a  deacon  for  over  half  a  cen¬ 
tury  until  his  death  (1859),  at  the  age  of  eighty-eight. 
Miss  Bumstead’s  father  was  for  twenty-seven  years  clerk 
of  the  Eliot  Church,  and  the  records  show  a  most  com¬ 
mendable  fidelity. 

A  decidedly  missionary  spirit  existed  in  the  family  of 


27  6 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


Deacon  Josiah  Bumstead.  Miss  Mary,  a  granddaughter, 
was  a  native  of  Roxbury;  and  in  1884,  two  years  after 
her  sister  Anna’s  embarkation  for  South  Africa,  she  hav¬ 
ing  pursued  a  course  at  the  Normal  Art  School,  followed 
under  an  engagement  to  teach  in  the  school  at  Worcester, 
one  hundred  miles  from  Cape  Town.  The  Rev.  William 
Murray,  a  brother  of  Andrew  Murray,  was  the  pastor  of 
a  Dutch  Reformed  Church  in  that  place,  and  chairman 
of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  school,  which  was  founded 
in  1876.  The  institution  is  a  boarding  and  day  school  like 
the  Huguenot  Seminary  at  Wellington,  for  the  daughters 
of  white  settlers,  and  is  pervaded  by  a  similar  religious 
atmosphere.  It  has  a  training  department  for  preparing 
young  women  to  enter  upon  missionary  work ;  and  a  num¬ 
ber  of  the  alumnae  are  thus  engaged,  while  many  are 
scattered  as  Christian  teachers  in  the  Cape  Colony,  in  the 
Orange  Free  State,  and  in  the  Transvaal.  During  the  last 
year’s  stay  at  Worcester,  Miss  Mary  Bumstead  had  charge 
of  the  overflow  department,  which  occupied  a  large  building 
by  itself.  After  a  service  of  seven  years  at  Worcester  she 
returned  home. 

In  1893  she  went  to  Colorado  on  account  of  her  health, 
which  was  speedily  benefited.  The  next  year  she  was  in¬ 
vited  to  act,  for  a  couple  of  weeks,  as  pastor  of  the  church  at 
Highlandlake,  Colorado ;  and  a  month  later  was  accepted  by 
the  Congregational  Home  Missionary  Society  as  one  of  their 
missionaries,  and  became  the  settled  pastor  of  the  afore¬ 
named  church.  At  that  time  there  was  a  congregation  of 


MISSIONARIES. 


277 


only  thirty-five,  who  worshiped  in  a  small  schoolhouse. 
The  next  year  Miss  Bumstead  came  East  and  obtained 
aid  from  friends,  which,  together  with  five  hundred  dollars 
from  the  Church  Building  Society,  sufficed,  with  what  the 
people  could  do,  to  secure  a  meeting  house  and  parsonage, 
which  were  dedicated  free  from  debt.  The  congregation 
doubled  in  attendance,  and  the  Sunday  School  meanwhile 
increased.  It  was  on  her  wedding  tour,  and  under  an 
attack  of  pneumonia,  that  Mary  Bumstead  Coates  died  at 
Denver,  March  24,  1898.  Indirectly  and  in  spirit,  though 
not  in  an  immediate  and  technical  sense,  the  South  African 
experience  of  these  sisters  belongs  to  the  category  of  for¬ 
eign  missions. 


14.  REV.  CHARLES  W.  MUNROE. 

In  Mr.  Munroe  our  Sunday  School  had  an  early 
member,  who  was  born  in  Boston,  October  21,  1821.  He 
graduated  at  Harvard  College  (1847)  and  Andover  Semi¬ 
nary  (1849),  and  immediately  entered  upon  home  missionary 
service  in  the  West.  Wisconsin  was  his  field,  and  he 
gathered  the  first  church  in  Appleton.  Mr.  Munroe  came 
East  (1856)  to  assist  his  father  in  business;  and  now 
resides  in  Cambridge,  where  he  is  a  valued  officer  of  the 
First  Church. 


15.  REV.  SAMUEL  GREENE. 

A  son  of  the  Rev.  David  Greene,  born  in  Boston, 
December  9,  1835.  He  enjoyed  in  Roxbury  the  advantages 
of  good  schools,  including  the  Latin  School,  and  also 


278 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


a  year  in  Thetford  Academy,  Vermont.  First  religious 
impressions,  outside  of  home,  are  ascribed  to  an  evening 
spent,  with  other  boys,  in  the  writer’s  study.  Public 
profession  was  made  at  Westborough,  Massachusetts, 
whither  the  family  had  removed  in  1849.  Seven  years 
later  he  removed  to  Muscatine,  Iowa,  and  joined  the 
church  of  which  the  Rev.  A.  B.  Robbins  was  pastor. 
Thoughts  of  the  ministry  as  his  calling  mingled  with 
the  aspirations  of  boyhood,  and  Dr.  Robbins  encouraged 
him  to  give  up  business  pursuits,  and  his  parting  words 
when  Mr.  Greene  left  for  St.  Louis  were,  “Young  man, 
if  you  feel  as  you  say  you  do,  and  do  not  enter  the  minis¬ 
try,  you  will  never  be  prospered  as  long  as  you  live  and 
refuse.”  Reverses  in  business  at  Chicago  occurred ;  and 
removal  to  Washington  Territory  took  place  with  a  view 
to  Christian  work.  The  second  day  after  arriving  there 
a  Congregational  minister  came  to  him,  reporting  that  he 
had  a  place  for  him.  It  was  on  an  Indian  reservation 
where  he  labored  for  the  greater  part  of  a  year.  Leaving 
there  he  engaged  in  organizing  Sunday  Schools,  and  at 
length  a  church  also,  of  which  he  was  chosen  the  pastor. 
License  to  preach  was  given  by  the  Oregon  and  Wash¬ 
ington  Association,  and  later  (1880)  he  was  installed,  by 
an  Ecclesiastical  Council,  pastor  of  a  church  which  he 
had  gathered  at  Houghton,  seven  miles  from  Seattle. 
There  he  remained  for  ten  years,  till  invited  to  become 
Superintendent  of  the  Congregational  Sunday  School 
and  Publishing  Society  for  Washington  and  Northern 


MISSIONARIES. 


279 

Idaho.  In  that  position  he  has  continued  to  the  present 
time. 

Mr.  Greene  is  one  of  the  leading  ministers  of  Wash¬ 
ington.  He  has  more  than  once  been  Moderator  of  the 
State  Congregational  Association,  President  of  the  Wash¬ 
ington  Home  Missionary  Society,  and  has  held  other 
positions  of  trust.  When  he  went  to  that  region  (1874) 
the  population  was  sparse,  and  but  little  had  been  done 
toward  gathering  churches  of  any  denomination,  there 
being  only  six  of  the  Congregational  order,  all  of  them 
weak,  the  largest  not  having  more  than  twenty-five  mem¬ 
bers.  In  the  course  of  a  decade  (1887-97)  he,  together 
with  his  assistants,  organized  nearly  five  hundred  Sunday 
Schools ;  while  during  the  same  period  ninety  churches 
were  gathered  and  received  into  the  fellowship  of  Asso¬ 
ciations,  sixty  of  which  churches  resulted  from  the  Sun¬ 
day  Schools.  For  the  past  ten  years  Mr.  Greene  has, 
upon  an  average,  preached  more  than  three  times  a  week ; 
and  for  the  last  seven  years  has  annually  traveled  over 
twenty-five  thousand  miles.  In  a  broad  sense  his  entire 
work  on  that  wide  field  has  been  home  missionary. 

16.  MISS  ELIZABETH  ELLEN  BACKUP. 

Her  parents  were  of  a  good  stock,  and  had  been 
trained  in  the  Scottish  ways  of  Sunday  observance,  Bible 
study  and  rehearsal  of  the  Catechism.  They  came  from 
Paisley  to  this  country  immediately  upon  their  marriage. 
Miss  Backup  was  born  in  Wrentham,  Massachusetts.  At 


28o 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


the  age  of  eighteen  she  graduated  at  the  Bridgewater 
State  Normal  School,  and  at  once  became  a  teacher;  but 
health  soon  broke  down  completely  and  has  since  re¬ 
mained  delicate.  In  1870  she  went  to  Fisk  University, 
Nashville,  Tennessee,  and  remained  through  the  academic 
year,  having  charge  of  what  was  then  termed  the  Gram¬ 
mar  School  Department.  She  mingled  as  freely  as  pos¬ 
sible  in  the  families  of  her  day-pupils,  and  also  taught 
in  the  Sunday  School.  She  had  long  been  interested  in 
evangelistic  work,  and  this  labor  at  Nashville  was  de¬ 
signed  to  be  and  was  of  a  decidedly  missionary  character. 
Bereavement  in  a  brother’s  family  called  her  back  to  Bos¬ 
ton  that  she  might  take  charge  of  three  motherless  chil¬ 
dren.  Interest  in  Christian  work  has  for  many  years 
exceeded  the  strength  required  for  much  active  service. 
At  present  Miss  Backup  is  president  of  the  “  Asso¬ 
ciated  Missionary  Circles  ”  of  our  Church,  and  also  of 
the  “  Woman’s  Home  Missionary  Association.” 

17.  MISS  SUSAN  MARIA  UNDERWOOD. 

Among  those  engaged  in  city  mission  work  was  Miss 
Underwood,  the  only  daughter  of  a  physician  then  practic¬ 
ing  in  Andover,  Massachusetts.  When  she  was  seven 
years  of  age  her  excellent  Christian  mother  died,  and  the 
funeral  was  held  in  the  chapel  of  the  Theological  Semi¬ 
nary,  the  venerable  Dr.  Woods  conducting  the  service.  At 
seventeen  Miss  Underwood  became  a  teacher  in  one  of 
the  Roxbury  public  schools,  and  in  1850  was  received  to 


MISSIONARIES. 


281 


the  Eliot  Church  on  profession  of  faith.  Her  religious 
experience  was  of  a  type  much  more  than  usually  decided, 
and  her  character  developed  in  a  form  of  exceptional 
beauty  and  certitude.  She  was  sprightly  as  well  as  pecu¬ 
liarly  sympathetic  and  disinterested.  With  no  sign  of 
any  morbid  element  she  gave  herself,  in  conscientious 
earnestness,  to  cultivating  spiritual  growth  by  observing 
the  requirements  of  Holy  Writ.  Early  every  morning  a 
text  of  Scripture  was  selected  for  immediate  special  aid 
during  the  day.  Such  writers  as  Baxter,  Edwards,  Brain- 
erd  and  the  Wesleys  were  favorites.  Seldom  is  any  one 
met  with  less  given  to  saying  aught  to  the  discredit  of 
another,  or  more  ready  to  lend  a  helping  hand.  She  was 
able  early  to  say,  “  I  desire  for  myself  no  more  temporal 
blessings  than  I  now  have.  I  am  more  than  satisfied.’* 
Late  in  life  she  wrote,  “  If  I  were  to  send  you  a  portrait 
of  myself  as  I  am  spiritually,  it  would  be  holding  a  cup- 
overflowing,  on  which  is  engraved  ‘ Mercies'.  ” 

That  Miss  Underwood  should  be  intent  on  usefulness 
was  a  matter  of  course.  She  went  to  Hartford,  Connec¬ 
ticut  (1856),  to  attend  upon  the  usual  preparation  for  ser¬ 
vice  under  the  care  of  the  Board  of  National  Popular 
Education  at  the  West,  of  which  the  Hon.  William  Slade 
was  the  Corresponding  Secretary.  The  ladies  having  in 
charge  the  preparatory  course  at  Hartford  were  impressed 
with  her  remarkable  fitness  for  foreign  missionary  service, 
and  she  received  appointment  by  the  American  Board  as 
a  teacher  in  a  female  boarding  school  at  Madura,  India. 


282 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


It  was  arranged  that  she  should  accompany  the  Rev.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Capron,  who  were  destined  to  that  mission. 
Her  eyes,  however,  came  to  be  in  such  a  state  as  made 
it  plain  that  she  ought  not  to  attempt  the  work  in  India. 
The  next  year  (1857)  she  began  city  mission  labor  in 
Boston.  It  was,  as  we  well  know,  arduous,  often  dis¬ 
couraging,  and  sometimes  disclosing  scenes  that  are  pain¬ 
fully  repulsive.  But  she  was  one  of  the  perseveringly  faith¬ 
ful.  After  two  years  of  indefatigable  work  she  was  seized 
with  a  hemorrhage  from  the  lungs.  A  voyage  to  Malaga, 
Spain,  under  very  favorable  circumstances,  proved  ser¬ 
viceable,  and  the  exhausting  work  was  resumed.  Attacks 
of  hemorrhage,  six  in  number,  were  repeated  till,  on  the 
morning  of  August  14,  1861,  she  awoke  where  the  sun 
goeth  no  more  down. 

In  our  Sunday  School  Miss  Underwood  was  a  highly 
valued  teacher,  and  when  obliged  to  leave  she  wrote, 
“  Dear,  delightful  Roxbury.”  I  have  seldom,  if  ever, 
known  any  one  whose  calm,  whole-souled  and  joyful  trust 
in  our  Saviour  surpassed  hers.  In  one  of  her  last  letters 
she  wrote :  “  I  can  look  up  and  find  rest  in  Him,  who 
having  loved  his  own  loved  them  to  the  end.  I  lay  my 
weary  soul  at  his  feet.”  Intellectually  she  was  a  superior 
young  woman.  Her  published  contributions  to  religious 
journals  and  her  poetic  effusions  were  far  from  being  of 
an  inferior  stamp.1 

‘Mrs.  Dr.  Anderson  prepared  a  Memoir  of  her — 250  pages  —  entitled, 
Following  after  Jesus ;  a  Memorial  of  Susan  Maria  Underwood,  which  was 
published  by  the  American  Tract  Society  in  1863. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 


EDUCATORS  AND  LITTERATEURS. 

I.  REV.  JACOB  ABBOTT. 

The  second  name  on  the  original  roll  of  the  church 
is  that  of  Rev.  Jacob  Abbott.  Although  licensed  to  preach 
six  years  previously,  'he  was  ordained  as  an  evangelist  the 
same  year  in  which  Ihis  church  was  gathered.  One  of  the 
recent  encyclopaedias  ascribes  the  founding  of  the  Eliot 
Church  to  him ;  in  another  he  is  said  to  have  organized  it. 
Neither  statement  is  correct.  No  one  man  was  perhaps 
ever  properly  the  founder  of  a  Congregational  church; 
nor  did  Mr.  Abbott  organize  the  Eliot  Church.  But  he 
was  one  of  numerous  individuals  who  were  active  in  secur¬ 
ing  its  establishment.  After  it  had  been  duly  organized 
in  the  usual  way  by  an  ecclesiastical  council,  he  supplied 
the  pulpit  for  a  considerable  part  of  a  year  before  his 
brother,  Rev.  John  S.  C.  Abbott,  became  its  installed 
pastor. 

Mr.  Jacob  Abbott  was  born  at  Hallowed,  Maine,  No¬ 
vember  30,  1803.  He  graduated  at  Bowdoin  College,  1820; 
was  tutor  and  then  professor  of  mathematics  in  Amherst 
College  from  1825  to  1829.  On  coming  to  this  neighbor¬ 
hood  he  was  associated  for  a  time  with  Rev.  William  C. 
Woodbridge  in  editing  The  Annals  of  Edtication .  Five 


284 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


years  later  he  started,  in  Boston,  the  popular  Mount  Vernon 
School  for  Young  Ladies,  and  afterwards  was  principal  of 
a  school  in  New  York,  where  two  of  his  brothers  were 
associated  with  him. 

Mr.  Abbott  paid  repeated  visits  to  Europe,  six  or 
more,  and  was  well  known  as  an  author,  not  only  in  this 
country,  but  abroad  also.  His  earlier  books  were  chiefly 
of  a  religious  character  —  The  Young  Christian  ;  The  Corner 
Stone ;  and  The  Way  to  God.  Other  works,  consisting  each 
of  one  volume,  were  educational,  historical,  and  descrip¬ 
tive —  The  Teacher ,  Gentle  Measures  in  Training  the  Young ; 
Discovery  of  America;  Aboriginal  America;  Hoary  Head 
and  McDonner ;  A  Summer  in  Scotland. 

His  serial  writings  are  more  numerous  —  Histories  of 
Celebrated  Sovereigns;  American  History ,  8  vols. ;  Marco 
Paul's  Adventures ,  6  vols.;  The  Little  Learner  Series , 
5  vols.;  Science  for  the  Young;  John  Gay ,  or  Work  for 
Boys ;  William  Gay ,  or  Play  for  Boys;  Mary  Gay ,  or 
Work  for  Girls ;  June  Stories ;  August  Stories ;  each  4  vols.; 
The  Harlie  Stories  and  The  Florence  Stories,  each  6  vols. 
Other  similar  series  consist  severally  of  an  unequal  num¬ 
ber  of  books  —  The  Rollo  and  Lucy  Books  of  Poetry ,  3  vols. ; 
Rainbow  and  Lucy  Series ,  5  vols. ;  The  Franconia  Stories, 
10  vols.;  The  Rollo  Books,  28  vols.;  and  Harpers  Story 
Books,  36  vols. 

The  sum  of  those  figures  fails  to  give  the  whole 
number  of  books  of  which  he  was  the  sole  author,  namely 
180,  besides  24  others  to  which  he  contributed.  Such 


EDUCATORS  AND  LITTERATEURS. 


285 


fecundity  of  pen  is  noteworthy  indeed.  During  the  period 
of  productiveness  there  was  an  average  of  four  books  per 
annum;  none  of  them,  however,  of  a  large  size.  Many  of 
them  were  republished  in  England,  and  not  a  few  of  them 
were  translated  into  languages  of  the  European  Continent, 
while  some  appeared  also  in  Asiatic  languages. 

Mr.  Abbott’s  style  is  lucid,  simple,  and  pleasing,  and 
his  productions  contributed  to  a  new  era  in  literature  for 
the  young.  Success  was  due  in  part  to  the  circumstance 
of  their  author  being  a  man  of  quick  perception  and  care¬ 
ful  observation.  He  was  in  the  habit  of  associating  with 
children  and  observing  their  ways  and  capacities  in  play, 
in  conversation,  and  in  reading.  This  was  noticeable  dur¬ 
ing  his  residence  here  in  Roxbury.  Such  a  class  of  writ¬ 
ings  does  not  call  for  great  depth,  but  rather  for  skillful 
adaptation.  On  the  score  of  circulation,  remarkable  suc¬ 
cess  attended  Mr.  Abbott’s  literary  ventures.  Their  aim 
and  tone  were  safe,  entertaining,  and  instructive,  though 
exceptions  have  been  taken  to  some  things  in  one  of  his 
earlier  works,  The  Corner  Stone.  Mr.  Abbott  died  at 
Farmington,  Maine,  the  thirty-first  of  October,  1879. 

2.  REV.  WILLIAM  CHANNING  WOODBRIDGE. 

It  is  not  often-  that  two  ministers  of  the  gospel  are 
found  among  the  original  members  of  a  local  church. 
Such,  however,  was  the  case  here  when  Jacob  Abbott 
and  William  C.  Woodbridge  were  enrolled  with  forty- 
nine  others,  though  neither  of  them  ever  became  a  pastor, 


286 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


and  both  were  devoted  to  education.  Mr.  Woodbridge 
was  born  in  Medford,  Massachusetts,  December  18,  1794, 
and  graduated  from  Yale  College  in  1811.  He  began 
preparations  for  the  sacred  ministry,  but  ill  health,  which 
continued  through  life,  obliged  him  to  relinquish  that 
object.  He  devoted  himself,  so  far  as  strength  would 
allow,  to  the  interests  of  education,  and  became  the 
principal  of  Burlington  Academy,  New  Jersey,  1812-1814. 
After  that  he  was  for  some  time  associated  with  the 
Rev.  Thomas  H.  Gallaudet  and  M.  LeClerc  as  a  teacher 
in  the  Deaf  and  Dumb  Asylum  at  Hartford,  Connecticut, 
which  was  opened  in  1817,  the  first  institution  of  the 

kind  established  in  this  country.  At  length  he  prepared 

a  well  known  geography,  the  first  of  a  scientific  stamp, 
and  which  marked  an  epoch  in  the  methods  of  such 

works  in  England  as  well  as  in  this  country.  Mr.  Wood- 
bridge  visited  Europe  three  times.  He  made  a  study 
of  Italy  and  Sicily,  and  resided  several  years  in  the 
middle  countries  of  the  Continent,  becoming  widely  ac¬ 
quainted  with  literary  and  learned  men,  and  making  con¬ 
tributions  to  educational  magazines.  He  felt  a  special 
interest  in  Baron  Tellenberg’s  institution  at  Hofwyl, 

Switzerland. 

Upon  his  return  to  the  United  States  he  conducted, 
as  proprietor  and  an  editor,  The  American  Annals  of 
Education  here  in  Boston  (1831-38),  a  very  useful  publi¬ 
cation.  Lyceums  and  conventions  of  teachers  were  largely 
due  for  their  origin  and  early  usefulness  to  his  influence. 


EDUCATORS  AND  LITTERATEURS. 


287 


He  advocated  the  use  of  the  Bible  as  a  classic  in  educa¬ 
tion.  Mr.  Woodbridge  was  a  man  of  large  benevolence* 
and  of  a  decidedly  religious  character;  but  suffered  much 
from  poor  health  and  consequent  debility,  and  died  Novem¬ 
ber  9,  1845. 


3.  WILLIAM  ALEXANDER  ALCOTT,  M.D. 

Dr.  Alcott,  a  cousin  of  Bronson  Alcott,  studied  at 
the  Medical  School,  New  Haven,  Connecticut,  and  after 
practicing  in  his  profession  for  a  few  years,  entered  upon 
other  lines  of  labor,  and  ceased  to  be  known  as  a  physi¬ 
cian.  He  was  born  at  Wolcott,  Connecticut,  in  1798, 
and  removed  to  Boston  two  years  before  the  Eliot  Church 
was  organized.  He  became  associated  with  William  C. 
Woodbridge  in  educational  authorship  and  kindred  work. 
There  was  similar  association  with  Gallaudet  and  others 
in  Connecticut.  He  had  a  share  in  editing  The  Annals 
of  Education;  also  The  Juvenile  Rambler ,  the  first  weekly 
periodical  for  children  in  this  country.  He  contributed 
many  articles  at  different  times  to  other  papers,  and  one 
of  them,  On  the  Construction  of  School  Houses ,  gained 
a  premium.  His  published  works  —  books  and  pam¬ 
phlets —  were  more  than  a  hundred  in  number.  Among 
them  are  Young  Mans  Guide ,  Young  Womans  Guide, 
Young  Housekeeper,  The  House  I  Live  In,  Library  of 
Health,  six  volumes.  He  was  a  philanthropist  and  a 
reformer.  The  improvement  of  public  education  engaged 
thought  and  effort  year  after  year.  To  forestall  and  pre- 


288 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


vent  poverty,  vice,  and  crime  by  correct  physical  and 
moral  training  was  his  steady  aim.  For  over  twenty  years 
Mr.  Alcott  delivered  lectures  during  the  winter  season 
in  various  places.  He  visited  even  thousands  of  schools, 
but  his  labors  were  chiefly  gratuitous  and  unrewarded. 
Peculiarities,  especially  in  regard  to  diet,  were  noticeable. 
In  person  tall,  spare,  and  ungainly,  and  with  a  counte¬ 
nance  not  particularly  pleasing,  he  yet  impressed  every 
one  as  being  a  kind  and  conscientiously  religious  man. 
Mr.  Alcott  died  at  Auburndale,  March  29,  1859. 

4.  REV.  SOLOMON  ADAMS. 

Was  born  in  Middleton,  Massachusetts,  March  30, 
1797,  and  he  bore  the  same  name  as  his  father,  then  minis¬ 
ter  of  that  place.  Mr.  Adams  graduated  at  Harvard  Col¬ 
lege,  1820,  and  at  the  Andover  Theological  Seminary, 
1823.  He  looked  upon  the  ministry  as  peculiarly  attrac¬ 
tive  ;  at  the  same  time  he  entertained  a  strong  predilec¬ 
tion  for  teaching,  and  regarded  himself  as  better  qualified 
for  that  than  for  any  other  profession.  Accordingly,  upon 
leaving  Andover,  he  at  once  accepted  the  principalship 
of  Washington  Academy,  East  Machias,  Maine.  That 
was  the  best  endowed  academy  in  the  state,  and  the  only 
one  east  of  Penobscot  River  and  Bay.  Mr.  Adams’  suc¬ 
cess  was  brilliant,  and  marked  an  epoch  in  the  progress 
of  education  in  that  section  of  the  state.  Thoroughness 
and  accuracy,  ability  to  inspire  pupils  and  control  their 
sentiments,  were  among  his  marked  characteristics.  Dr. 


EDUCATORS  AND  LITTERATEURS. 


289 


Samuel  Harris,  former  President  of  Bowdoin  College,  and 
later  a  Professor  at  New  Haven,  writes,  as  many  others 
would  write :  “  I  feel  I  owe  a  great  debt  of  gratitude  to 
him  for  his  instruction,  his  influence  in  developing  my 
intellect,  quickening  my  interest  in  study  and  in  all  that 
is  right  and  good,  and  in  shaping  the  course  of  my  life. 
His  whole  influence  on  his  pupils  was  uplifting  and  good ; 
he  always  manifested  a  great  interest  in  his  pupils,  not 
only  in  their  school  work,  but  in  their  whole  life  and 
development ;  he  was  a  man  of  most  eminent  ability  as  a 
teacher.  I  always  remember  him  with  gratitude,  love  and 
high  esteem.” 

In  1828  Mr.  Adams  opened  in  Portland  the  “Free 
Street  Seminary  ”  for  young  ladies,  which,  during  the 
twelve  years  of  his  connection  with  it,  ranked  as  the  best 
institution  of  the  kind  in  Maine.  At  a  later  period  he 
opened  a  similar  school  in  Boston.  Owing  to  medical 
advice,  upon  failure  of  health,  he  gave  up  teaching.  His 
methods  of  instruction,  and  especially  the  employment 
of  devices  for  illustration,  were  in  advance  of  his  day. 
The  practice  of  daguerreotyping  microscopic  views,  which 
has  become  so  common  in  this  country  and  in  Europe, 
originated  from  a  suggestion  of  his  (1845)  to  Mr.  Whipple, 
a  photographer,  who  for  a  number  of  years  worshiped 
with  us.  While  an  officer  of  the  American  Institute  of 
Education,  Mr.  Adams  was  influential  in  promoting  im¬ 
proved  methods.  At  East  Machias  he  received  ordina¬ 
tion  as  an  evangelist  (1825),  and  some  of  his  sermons 


290 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


were  deeply  impressive.  In  the  course  of  that  year  there 
came  a  religious  revival  of  great  power,  in  which  he 
labored  with  special  earnestness.  Benignant,  unselfish, 
unassuming,  yet  firm,  Mr.  Adams  was  greatly  respected 
wherever  known.  He  died  at  Auburndale,  July  20,  1870, 
much  valued  in  the  community  for  his  Christian  charac¬ 
ter  and  influence. 

5.  REV.  HORATIO  QUINCY  BUTTERFIELD,  D.D. 

Yet  others  of  the  early  as  well  as  later  members  of 
our  church  were  devoted  to  the  cause  of  education.  To 
this  category  belongs  President  Butterfield.  The  first 
of  his  ancestors  in  this  country  settled  at  Charlestown  in 
the  year  1638.  Dr.  Butterfield’s  grandfather  was  in  the 
Battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  and  his  great-grandfather,  with  six 
sons,  enlisted  for  service  in  the  War  of  the  Revolution. 

The  town  of  Phillips,  Maine,  was  Dr.  Butterfield’s 
birthplace,  August  5,  1827.  He  graduated  at  Harvard 
College  in  1848,  under  the  presidency  of  Mr.  Everett,  and 
then  for  two  years  had  charge  of  the  Roxbury  Latin 
School.  During  that  period  he  became  specially  inter¬ 
ested  in  the  subject  of  personal  religion.  He  confessed 
that  whatever  of  religious  thoughtfulness  he  had  had 
previously  was  subject  to  a  sad  decline  in  the  course  of 
his  college  life,  but  while  in  our  congregation  he  experi¬ 
enced  a  marked  spiritual  change  —  all  things  becoming 
new  —  and  on  confession  of  faith  in  Christ,  connected 
himself  (1850)  with  the  Eliot  Church.  One  statement  of 


EDUCATORS  AND  LITTERATEURS. 


291 


his  at  that  time  was,  “  I  can  now  form  no  idea  of  real 
happiness  apart  from  holiness.”  Then  followed  three 
years  of  study  at  the  Bangor  Theological  Seminary  in 
his  native  state,  preparatory  to  pastoral  work.  To  that 
he  was  devoted  —  with  the  exception  of  one  year  at  the 
Andover  Theological  Seminary  —  from  1854  till  1866, 
when  he  became  professor  of  languages  in  Washburn 
College,  Kansas.  During  the  last  four  years  there  he 
was  President  of  that  institution.  Thence  he  was  called 
to  New  York  City  as  Secretary  of  the  Society  for  Pro¬ 
moting  Western  Collegiate  Education,  which  position  he 
held  for  several  years.  In  1876  he  was  elected  president 
of  Olivet  College,  Michigan.  The  institution  was  at  that 
time  in  a  depressed  condition,  the  number  of  students  hav¬ 
ing  fallen  off  quite  sensibly.  In  a  few  years  that  number 
was  doubled.  Scholarships  and  other  equipments  were 
supplied,  new  buildings  erected,  and  an  era  of  general 
prosperity  opened.  In  his  varied  relations  and  services 
Dr.  Butterfield  had  large  occasion  to  solicit  money,  and 
he  met  with  a  fair  amount  of  success.  If  in  any  case 
there  might  be  a  failure  to  secure  funds,  there  could  be 
no  failure  to  secure  friends,  so  gentlemanly  was  he  and 
so  well  acquainted  with  the  workings  of  human  nature. 
In  the  course  of  the  last  year  of  his  life,  the  college  re¬ 
ceived  through  his  influence  an  endowment  of  $96,000. 
The  key-note  of  Dr.  Butterfield’s  administration  was  given 
in  the  inaugural  (1876):  “I  know  the  heart  of  the  needy 
student;  and  if  I  forget  him,  may  my  right  hand  forget 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


294 

within  the  original  town  limits,  as  the  public  town  or 
city  schools.”  1 

In  the  year  1863  Mr.  Short  was  elected  president 
of  Kenyon  College,  Ohio,  where  he  took  the  chair  of 
Moral  and  Intellectual  Philosophy.  From  1868  till  the 
time  of  his  decease  (December  24,  1886)  he  was  professor 
of  Latin  in  Columbia  College,  New  York  City.  He  was 
on  the  Committee  of  Revision  of  the  New  Testament, 
and  served  as  its  secretary.  Dr.  Short  was  a  member 
of  several  learned  societies,  to  which  he  made  valuable 
written  contributions,  besides  furnishing  articles  for  various 
reviews.  Several  school  books  were  revised  by  him,  and 
his  treatise  on  The  Order  of  Words  in  Attic-Greek  Prose 
is  acknowledged  to  be  the  ablest  work  on  that  subject 
which  has  yet  appeared.  Dr.  Short  was  a  thorough 
classical  scholar;  a  man  of  great  refinement,  of  unusual 
painstaking  industry,  and  of  very  agreeable  social  qualities. 

7.  PROF.  WILLIAM  RIPLEY  NICHOLS. 

Of  all  who  have  been  connected  with  the  Eliot 
Church,  Professor  Nichols  takes  the  lead  in  the  depart¬ 
ment  of  science.  His  short  life  —  only  thirty-nine  years 
being  allotted  him  —  bore  the  fruits  of  intense  industry. 

He  was  a  son  of  C.  C.  Nichols,  Esq.,  and  was  a 
native  of  Boston.  After  graduating  from  the  Roxbury 
Latin  School  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  he  went  to  Europe 
with  two  classmates,  under  the  guidance  and  instruction 


1  The  Roxbury  Latin  School.  By  J.  Evarts  Greene.  1887. 


EDUCATORS  AND  LITTERATEURS. 


295 


of  Professor  Buck.  The  two  years’  absence  were  spent 
chiefly  in  France,  Germany,  Italy  and  Greece.  The  lan¬ 
guages  of  the  three  former  countries  were  mastered ;  and 
an  acquaintance,  not  wholly  superficial,  with  the  lan¬ 
guage  of  the  one  last  named  was  also  formed.  On  re¬ 
turning  home  he  entered  Harvard  College  with  the  class 
of  1869.  Midway  in  Freshmen  year  he  withdrew  and 
joined  the  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology.  A 
trouble  with  the  eyes  may  have  had  influence  in  this  step, 
but  the  leading  consideration  was  a  preference  for  science. 
At  that  time  the  elective  system  had  not  been  adopted 
at  Harvard  as  it  has  been  since.  For  a  youth  of  eighteen 
he  had  unusual  maturity  of  judgment  and  decision  of 
character.  It  is  not  known  that  he  ever  for  a  moment 
regretted  the  change  or  wavered  in  his  devotion  to  the 
Institute.  During  the  undergraduate  course  he  gave  in¬ 
struction  in  languages;  and  upon  graduating  was  imme¬ 
diately  made  an  instructor  in  chemistry.  The  year  1870 
found  him  Assistant  Professor  in  general  chemistry ;  and 
1872  a  Professor.  That  position  he  held  till  his  decease 
in  1886.  All  his  work  was  characterized  by  patience  and 
scrupulous  accuracy ;  nor  did  he  merely  plod ;  the  funda¬ 
mental  principles  of  scientific  investigation  were  kept 
clearly  in  mind.  Nothing  crude  or  unproved  was  allowed 
in  his  statements.  For  securing  exactness  neither  time 
nor  money  was  spared.  He  was  at  the  expense  of  send¬ 
ing  an  assistant  to  England  for  the  purpose  of  studying 
under  Frankland  and  of  mastering  his  methods. 


296 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


Even  before  graduation  Professor  Nichols  had  pre¬ 
pared  two  scientific  papers,  which  were  widely  copied  and 
were  quoted  in  foreign  periodicals.  Inorganic  chemistry 
attracted  him  at  first ;  then  he  gave  himself  specially  to 
sanitary  chemistry,  devoting  great  attention  to  questions 
of  water  supply  and  other  matters  relating  to  public  health. 
In  1870  he  began  investigations  of  the  chief  rivers  in  the 
Commonwealth  for  the  State  Board  of  Health,  and  was 
soon  recognized  widely  as  an  authority.  His  opinion  was 
sought  by  Water  Boards  of  many  cities  and  by  Com¬ 
mittees  of  Legislatures  with  reference  to  the  conditions 
of  public  health,  and  his  opinions  carried  weight  not  only 
in  the  United  States  but  in  Europe.  A  diploma  with  an 
accompanying  medal  was  sent  to  him  from  the  London 
Health  Exhibition.  Publications  from  his  pen,  under  the 
head  of  Sanitary  Chemistry,  amount  to  forty-four,  that 
of  1883,  on  Water  Supply ,  being  best  known.  Other  pub¬ 
lications  of  a  kindred  nature,  and  the  result  of  collabora¬ 
tion,  carry  the  number  up  to  sixty  or  more.  He  also 
furnished  a  valuable  revision  of  two  works,  Manual  of 
Inorganic  Chemistry  and  Qualitative  Analysis.  Member¬ 
ship  was  accorded  Professor  Nichols  in  numerous  scientific 
societies  of  this  country,  as  well  as  the  London  Society 
of  Chemical  Industry,  and  the  Deutsche  Chemische 
Gesellschaft.  He  had  a  wide  acquaintance,  personal  and 
by  correspondence,  with  men  eminent  in  the  same  depart¬ 
ment,  both  in  Great  Britain  and  on  the  Continent.  He 
visited  Europe  not  less  than  seven  times. 


EDUCATORS  AND  LITTERATEURS. 


297 


But  enthusiasm  for  learned  pursuits  by  no  means 
wholly  absorbed  Professor  Nichols.  Membership  in  the 
Eliot  Church  began  at  the  age  of  fifteen  (1863).  A  few 
months  before  that  he  became  convinced  that  his  was  a 
deceitful  heart ;  that  it  was  sinful  to  live  for  self,  and  that 
the  atoning  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  was  what  he  needed. 
The  Bible  became  a  new  book  to  him,  and  prayer  three 
times  daily  a  new  practice.  Several  years  later  (1870)  his 
relation  was  transferred  to  the  Highland  Church,  in  the 
gathering  of  which  he  felt  a  deep  interest.  He  was  one 
of  its  trustees  and  was  clerk  of  the  Ecclesiastical  Society. 
In  the  course  of  his  last  prolonged  sickness  he  became 
Superintendent  of  the  Sunday  School,  and  was  indefatiga¬ 
ble  in  preparing  exercises  for  the  concerts,  and  in  attend¬ 
ance  upon  teachers’  meetings  as  well  as  upon  church 
gatherings.  Nor  was  such  activity  merely  local.  While 
scientific  labors  had  a  philanthropic  aim,  his  interest  in 
the  moral  well-being  of  the  community  at  large  was  not 
slight.  He  took  part  in  the  formation  (1878)  of  the  New 
England  Society  for  the  Suppression  of  Vice,  and  became 
one  of  its  directors.  Professor  Nichols  was  deeply  con¬ 
scientious  both  as  a  Christian  man  and  a  scientist.  He 
had  the  genius  of  resolution  and  the  heroism  of  persever¬ 
ance.  Overwork  brought  on  empyema,  and  the  last  five 
years  of  life  were  years  of  progressive  suffering  and  weak¬ 
ness  ;  and  yet  a  time  of  but  partially  diminished  industry. 
Literary  and  educational  work,  even  night  work  continued. 
An  extra  course  of  lectures  at  the  Boston  University  was 


298 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


undertaken.  Unable  to  travel  to  and  fro  from  home,  or 
even  from  the  railroad  station,  he  uttered  no  complaint, 
but  removed  to  Hotel  Brunswick  that  he  might  be  in 
close  neighborhood  to  the  place  of  chosen  labor,  and  not 
miss  an  exercise.  In  1886  a  second  and  very  critical 
operation  became  necessary.  For  this  purpose  he  went 
to  Hamburg,  having  arranged,  before  sailing,  a  cable  code 
to  be  sent  back.  The  word  Prepare  signified  “  The 
patient  is  sinking ;  ”  and  the  word  “  Worst  ”  denoted 
“  The  patient  did  not  survive  the  operation.”  These  mes¬ 
sages,  flashed  beneath  the  ocean,  filled  many  hearts  with 
profound  sadness. 

His  library,  unsurpassed  in  collections  of  books  and 
pamphlets  relating  to  sanitary  chemistry,  was  bequeathed 
to  the  Institute  of  Technology,  and  by  that  institution 
has  been  named,  “  The  William  Ripley  Nichols  Library.1 

8.  PROF.  FRANK  EUSTACE  ANDERSON. 

At  fifteen  years  of  age,  the  same  age  as  Prof. 
William  R.  Nichols,  he  joined  the  church  on  confession 
of  faith.  His  testimony  at  that  time  to  a  hearty  accept- 

1  A  Memorial,  1887,  containing  — 

Funeral  Address  by  the  Rev.  W.  R.  Campbell. 

Memorial  from  the  Institute  of  Technology. 

Memorial  from  the  Alumni  Association. 

Annual  Catalogue  of  the  Institution  for  1886-1887. 

Prof.  L.  M.  Norton  in  American  Chemical  Journal,  Vol.  VIII,  No.  6. 
Prof.  G.  F.  Swain  in  Scientific  Ajnerican,  April  30,  1887 
Prof.  F.  H.  Storer,  an  Article  for  the  American  Academy  of  Arts  and 
Sciences ,  1887. 


EDUCATORS  AND  LITTERATEURS.  299 

ance  of  all  the  distinctive  truths  of  evangelical  Chris¬ 
tianity  and  to  his  purposes  in  life  was  gratifying,  as  well 
as  his  expressed  preference  for  solid  reading  instead  of 
fiction,  his  reverence  for  the  Word  of  God,  and  his  habit 
of  prayer.  Dr.  William  Everett  declared  publicly  that 
our  Latin  School  “never  graduated  a  brighter  intellect, 
a  warmer  heart  than  that  of  Frank  Eustace  Anderson, 
of  the  class  of  i860.”  He  was  born  November,  1844, 
at  Goff’s  Falls,  New  Hampshire.  The  family  came  to 
Boston  when  he  was  four  years  of  age.  His  father,  like 
some  others  of  the  same  name,  hailed  from  the  Scotch 
element  in  the  north  of  Ireland,  and  was  senior  partner 
in  the  house  of  Anderson,  Heath  &  Co.,  Boston.  In  the 
Roxbury  Latin  School  Frank  Anderson  was  recognized 
as  a  scholar  of  great  promise.  From  Harvard  College 
he  graduated,  1865,  among  the  highest  in  the  class,  his 
record  in  Greek  scholarship  being  very  exceptional.  He 
was  then  enrolled  in  Trinity  College,  Cambridge,  England. 
Excellence  in  the  classics  secured  for  him  a  scholarship, 
and  after  taking  his  degree  there,  in  1869,  he  studied  for 
some  time  at  Heidelberg  and  Berlin.  For  two  years  he 
served  as  tutor  at  Harvard  College,  and  then  received 
appointment  as  assistant  professor.  His  enthusiasm  and 
his  improved  methods  of  teaching  gave  a  new  impulse 
to  the  study  in  his  chosen  department. 

Professor  Anderson’s  constitution  was  not  naturally 
strong;  he  neglected  to  observe  duly  the  laws  of  health, 
and  frequent  visits  to  Europe  failing  to  bring  relief  from 


3°° 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


the  neglect  of  required  regimen,  he  was  obliged  to  tender 
his  resignation  in  1878.  He  afterwards  resided  chiefly  at 
Leipsic,  still  pursuing  favorite  studies,  though  with  con¬ 
stantly  declining  health,  and  the  end  came  July  15,  1880. 
His  remains  rest  in  the  new  cemetery  of  that  city. 

9.  HORACE  ELISHA  SCUDDER,  LITT.  D. 

The  family  of  Deacon  Charles  Scudder  resided  here 
for  a  few  years,  but  without  sundering  their  ecclesiastical 
relations  to  the  Essex  Street  (now  Union)  Church.  Their 
presence  with  us  was  a  benediction.  The  youngest  son 
dedicates  one  of  his  books,  The  Bodleys  Afoot  (1879),  “To 
the  Memory  of  the  Best  of  Parents ;  ”  and  in  so  doing 
was  at  least  not  far  from  literal  correctness.  In  the  same 
book  our  Warren  Street  is  spoken  of. 

Horace  E.,  when  a  lad  of  about  a  dozen  summers, 
was  a  favorite  with  those  among  us  of  similar  age,  as  well 
as  of  those  older.  He  was  a  leader  in  social  activities, 
especially  such  as  were  of  a  charitable  nature.  On  attain¬ 
ing  his  majority,  Mr.  Scudder,  referring  to  a  Juvenile 
Association,  which  was  largely  due  to  his  agency,  wrote, 
“We  used  to  hold  our  meetings  in  the  large  vestry,  and  I 
recall  one  of  them  now  —  the  assembly  of  children  and 
some  older  people,  the  missionary  intelligence  read  from 
the  desk,  and,  what  was  the  most  interesting  exercise 
to  the  children,  the  announcement  of  the  sum  of  money 
that  had  been  contributed.  I  wonder  if  any  of  my  asso¬ 
ciates  recollect  a  sermon  one  rainy  Sabbath,  by  a  veteran 


EDUCATORS  AND  LITTERATEURS. 


3QI 


missionary,  Rev.  Dr.  Poor,  from  the  text,  ‘  The  churches 
of  Asia  salute  you  ’  —  and  how  in  the  course  of  his  sermon 
he  called  upon  the  members  of  the  Juvenile  Association 
to  stand  up,  which  they  did.” 

Mr.  Scudder,  who  was  bom  in  Boston  (1838),  after 
graduating  from  Williams  College  (1858),  had  private 
pupils  in  New  York  for  three  years.  The  stories  written 
for  their  birthdays  were  afterwards  published  in  book 
form,  with  the  title  of  Seven  Little  People  and  Their 
Friends.  This  was  followed  by  numerous  other  books 
designed  for  the  young,  entertaining,  healthful  in  tone, 
and  instructive.  He  approved  himself  as  the  man  to 
prepare  a  work  on  Childhood  in  Literature  and  Art; 
with  some  Observations  on  Literature  for  Children.  The 
young  people  of  our  country  are  greatly  indebted  to  Mr. 
Scudder.  The  Life  and  Letters  of  David  Coit  Scudder , 
a  brother,  whose  brief  missionary  career  in  India  came 
to  a  sudden  close ;  biographies  of  George  Washington 
and  Noah  Webster  were  also  by  him.  Mr.  Scudder  had 
charge  of  The  Riverside  Magazine  for  Young  People ; 
and  in  1890  became  editor  of  The  Atlantic  Monthly. 
He  wrote  two  school  histories  of  the  United  States, 
besides  contributing  to  Bryant  and  Gay’s  History  of  the 
United  States ,  as  well  as  to  the  Memorial  History  of 
Boston.  The  number  of  volumes  from  his  pen,  not 
including  compilations,  is  between  twenty  and  thirty. 
Princeton  University,  on  the  occasion  of  its  one  hundred 
and  fiftieth  anniversary,  conferred  upon  Mr.  Scudder  the 


3°  2 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


degree  of  Litt.  D.  In  the  Riverside  Literature  series 
of  Portraits  and  Biographical  Sketches  of  Twenty  Amer¬ 
ican  Authors ,  Mr.  Scudder’s  name  appears  along  with 
the  names  of  such  writers  as  Bryant,  Cooper,  Emerson, 
Hawthorne,  Holmes,  and  others. 


CHAPTER  XX. 


LAWYERS. 

The  legal  profession  has  been  honored  by  those  who 
belonged  to  it  while  in  the  congregation,  or  who  entered 
it  after  leaving  the  congregation.  With  varying  degrees 
of  eminence  a  uniformly  high  tone  of  character  has  been 
maintained  on  their  part.  Though  the  number  is  not 
large,  it  is  all  that  might  naturally  have  been  expected. 
The  first  lawyer  came  to  Boston  over  two  and  a  half 
centuries  since  (1637).  The  present  corps  in  this  city  is 
not  far  from  one  thousand. 

I.  HON.  SAMUEL  HURD  WALLEY. 

Three  years  after  the  organization  of  the  church,  Mr. 
Walley  became  a  member,  and  for  more  than  twenty  years 
rendered  invaluable  service.  His  seat  in  the  sanctuary  on 
the  Lord’s  Day  was  never  vacant,  save  when  sickness  or 
absence  from  town  intervened;  and  he  could  be  depended 
upon  for  a  helpful  share  in  all  week-day  devotional  meet¬ 
ings.  Religious  training  in  early  life,  and  a  good  educa¬ 
tion,  contributed  to  qualify  him  for  Christian  work.  He 
enjoyed  the  blessing  of  pious  parents  and  grandparents  — 
his  mother  being  a  daughter  of  Governor  Phillips.  He 
graduated  from  Harvard  College  (1826)  in  the  same  class 
with  Drs.  N.  Adams,  George  Putnam,  and  A.  P.  Peabody; 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


3°  4 

and  studied  law  in  the  office  of  Hon.  Samuel  Hubbard. 
The  powerful  ministry  of  Dr.  Lyman  Beecher,  with  whose 
church  in  Boston  Mr.  Walley  became  first  connected,  had 
large  influence  in  shaping  his  religious  views  and  char¬ 
acter.  The  consistency  of  his  profession  he  maintained  in 
secular  relations,  such  as  various  pecuniary  trusts,  the 
treasuryship  of  moneyed  institutions,  the  presidency  of 
Revere  Bank,  membership  for  eight  years  in  the  Massa¬ 
chusetts  legislature  —  of  which  body  he  was  the  Speaker 
for  several  sessions  —  and  as  a  representative  in  Congress. 
But  it  is  church  life  and  activity  of  which  more  especial 
mention  should  be  made  here.  Mr.  Walley  was  the  effi¬ 
cient  superintendent  successively  of  the  Mason  Street  and 
the  Bowdoin  Street  Church  Sunday  Schools,  and  for 
nearly  twenty  years  was  president  of  the  Massachusetts 
Sunday  School  Society.  It  was  an  unusual  circumstance 
that,  on  retiring  from  the  charge  of  the  former  of  those 
two  schools,  he  was  succeeded  in  the  superintendency  by 
his  father,  Samuel  Hall  Walley,  who  held  the  position  for 
seventeen  years,  till  his  death  in  1850.1  While  with  us 
he  conducted  a  large  Bible  class  of  young  ladies,  and 
their  uniform  punctual  attendance  showed  their  interest. 
As  one  and  another  of  them  was  removed  by  a  lingering 
illness,  it  became  manifest  that  the  good  seed  sown  by 
their  faithful  teacher  bore  fruit. 

Mr.  Walley  was  a  man  of  joyous  temperament  — 
frank,  genial  and  kind.  His  presence  was  a  benediction 


1  Memorial  of  Samuel  H.  Walley ,  1866. 


LAWYERS.  305 

to  any  neighborhood  and  any  church.  I  once  said  to 
him  in  his  office,  “  Mr.  Walley,  how  comes  it  that  you 
always  have  such  a  streak  of  cheerfulness,  enough  for 
yourself  and  to  make  everybody  else  happy  who  comes 
in  here  ?  ”  “  Whatever  I  have  is  from  God,”  he  replied. 

“  My  earliest  recollection  is  the  prayers  of  my  mother. 
I  was  an  ugly  boy.  At  four  years  of  age  my  grand¬ 
mother  bade  me  do  something  which  made  me  exceed¬ 
ingly  angry.  I  went  outdoors  and  sat  on  the  wood-pile, 
pouting.  All  at  once  it  occurred  to  me,  ‘  There  is  no 
use  in  this ;  I ’m  making  myself  miserable,  and  others 
too;  I’ll  now  try  and  make  them  happy.’  And  from  that 
time  to  this  it  has  been  a  study  with  me  to  make  people 
happy.”  1  He  removed  from  Roxbury  to  Boston,  and  died 
at  the  age  of  seventy-three,  August  27,  1877. 

2.  HON.  CHARLES  THEODORE  RUSSELL. 

One  of  the  earliest  representatives  of  the  legal  pro¬ 
fession  was  the  Hon.  C.  T.  Russell,  who  became  a  mem¬ 
ber  on  confession  of  faith  in  1838.  Fifteen  or  more  years 
later  he  removed  from  Boston  to  Cambridge  and  con¬ 
nected  himself  with  the  First  Church  of  that  city. 
Princeton,  Massachusetts,  was  his  birthplace,  but  the 
earliest  ancestor  in  this  country  was  a  Puritan,  William 
Russell,  a  citizen  of  Cambridge  in  1645.  Mr.  Russell’s 
parents  attained  unusual  longevity,  his  father,  after  voting 
at  state  elections  for  sixty-nine  consecutive  years,  died  at 


1  Memorial  Sermon  by  Rev.  J.  M.  Manning ,  D.D.,  1878.  p.  13. 


3°6 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


nearly  ninety  years  of  age,  while  the  mother  lived  to  her 
ninety-third  year.  She  was  descended  from  a  younger 
brother  of  the  Earl  of  Huntington. 

Mr.  Russell  ranked  high  in  his  class  at  Harvard  Uni¬ 
versity,  and  after  graduation  studied  law.  The  firm  of 
C.  T.  &  T.  H.  Russell  has  been  well  known  for  full  half  a 
century.  During  that  time  Mr.  C.  T.  Russell  was  elected 
to  a  series  of  public  trusts.  On  the  School  Committee  of 
Boston  he  took  right  ground  regarding  the  admission  of 
colored  children  to  the  public  schools  on  an  equality  with 
other  children,  and  ably  defended  the  position,  though 
in  consequence  he  failed  of  reelection.  Sentiment  has 
since  undergone  a  favorable  change.  At  different  times 
he  represented  Cambridge  in  the  lower  house  of  the  Leg¬ 
islature,  and  the  County  of  Middlesex  in  the  Senate. 
While  Mayor  of  Cambridge,  1861  and  1862,  he  cooperated 
efficiently  with  Governor  Andrew  in  filling  up  quotas  of 
State  troops,  and  it  was  upon  his  suggestion  that  Cam¬ 
bridge  offered  the  first  large  bounties.  He  was  a  pro¬ 
fessor  in  the  Law  School  of  Boston  University  from  its 
foundation  onward ;  and  for  many  years  was  a  corporate 
member  of  the  American  Board  of  Missions,  and  one  of 
the  Board  of  Visitors  of  the  Theological  Seminary  at 
Andover.  Mr.  Russell’s  last  sickness  was  a  very  short 
one ;  and  his  death  was  almost  as  sudden  as  that  of  his 
son,  the  late  Governor  William  E.  Russell,  though  he 
had  lived  twice  the  number  of  years,  seventy-nine. 


LAWYERS. 


3°7 


3.  HON.  WILLIAM  GASTON,  LL.  D. 

Huguenot  blood  always  suggests  pathos  and  special 
genealogical  interest.  Mr.  Gaston’s  ancestor,  Jean  Gas¬ 
ton,  one  of  the  French  Huguenots  who  suffered  perse¬ 
cution  and  confiscation,  fled  for  refuge  to  Scotland,  where 
he  married.  Two  of  his  descendants  came  from  the  north 
of  Ireland  to  New  England  about  1730,  and  settled  at 
Voluntown,  Connecticut.  A  son  of  one  of  them,  John, 
had  a  son  John,  who  was  Governor  Gaston’s  grandfather, 
and  who  married  a  daughter  of  his  pastor  in  that  town, 
the  Rev.  Alexander  Miller.  Their  son,  Alexander  Gas¬ 
ton,  removed  to  Roxbury  in  1838.  Our  William  was 
then  in  the  family,  having  been  born  in  Killingly,  Con¬ 
necticut,  October  3,  1820.  At  the  Brooklyn  and  Plain- 
field  Academies  of  that  state  he  fitted  for  Brown  Uni¬ 
versity,  which  he  entered  at  the  age  of  fifteen,  and  from 
which  he  graduated  with  honors,  1840.  He  entered  Judge 
Francis  Hilliard’s  office  in  Roxbury,  and  afterwards  pur¬ 
sued  legal  studies  in  the  office  of  those  eminent  lawyers 
and  jurists,  Charles  P.  and  Benjamin  R.  Curtis  of  Boston. 
Mr.  Gaston  opened  a  law  office  in  Roxbury,  and  came 
to  a  leading  position  at  the  bar.  After  about  twenty 
years  he  formed  (1865),  with  Hon.  Harvey  Jewell  and 
Hon.  Walbridge  A.  Field,  a  Boston  law  firm  which  be¬ 
came  noted.  As  an  advocate  Governor  Gaston  was  one 
of  the  comparatively  few  who  achieve  well-sustained  emi¬ 
nence  of  the  first  grade.  He  devoted  himself  with  wisely- 
directed  enthusiasm  to  his  profession.  To  clear  and  logi- 


3°8 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


cal  thinking  he  united  an  unusually  forcible  and  convincing 
manner  of  address.  An  air  of  honest  conviction  on  his 
own  part  contributed  to  his  success. 

He  never  solicited  office,  but  office  solicited  him. 
He  became  President  of  the  Roxbury  Common  Council 
{1852-1853);  City  Solicitor  for  five  years;  Mayor  of  Rox¬ 
bury  (1861-1862);  member  of  the  House  of  Representa¬ 
tives  (1853,  1854,  1856);  and  of  the  Senate  (1868);  Mayor 
of  Boston  (1871-1872);  President  of  the  Boston  Bar  Asso¬ 
ciation  ;  Governor  of  the  Commonwealth  (1875).  In  all 
these  positions  he  was  courteous  and  unassuming.  Sound¬ 
ness  of  judgment  and  purity  of  life  were  acknowledged 
by  all.  His  integrity  was  never  impeached.  Simplicity 
of  manners,  and  a  preference  for  domestic  enjoyments  were 
characteristics.  His  decease  occurred  January  19,  1894. 

4.  NEHEMIAH  CHASE  BERRY. 

Was  born  in  Pittsfield,  New  Hampshire,  November  28, 
1811.  His  grandfather  did  service  in  the  Revolutionary 
War,  holding  the  rank  of  captain.  An  English  ancestor 
settled  at  Portsmouth  before  1640.  Dartmouth  College 
was  Mr.  Berry’s  Alma  Mater ;  and  after  graduating  (1839), 
he  became  first  principal  of  the  Stetson  High  School  at 
Randolph,  Massachusetts.  In  1847  he  was  admitted  to 
the  Norfolk  County  Bar,  and  three  years  later  began  the 
practice  of  law  in  Boston. 

On  removing  to  Roxbury,  Mr.  Berry  brought  to  us 
a  letter  from  the  First  Church  in  Randolph,  and  in  a  nar- 


LAWYERS.  309 

rative  of  religious  experience  spoke,  as  many  another  has 
done,  of  the  Christian  earnestness  of  his  mother,  and  of 
the  conversion  of  a  brother  and  sister,  as  a  special  bless¬ 
ing  to  him  when  a  young  man.  While  in  college  and  in 
the  churches  with  which  he  was  afterwards  connected, 
Mr.  Berry  maintained  a  decidedly  consistent  character  as 
a  professing  Christian,  uniform  in  attendance  upon  meet¬ 
ings  and  the  discharge  of  obvious  duties.  To  the  Bible 
he  gave  earnest  study.  Great  sobriety  of  judgment  and 
utterance  was  a  characteristic.  His  presence  and  opinions 
were  much  valued  in  ecclesiastical  councils  when  embar¬ 
rassing  questions  came  to  the  front.  Unemotional,  his 
mind  was  distinctively  of  a  judicial  stamp.  Late  in  life 
he  prepared  a  small  law-book,  entitled  Pleading  and  Prac¬ 
tice.  Unusual  vigor  was  retained  until  seventy-eight  years 
of  age,  when  a  severe  sickness  compelled  him  to  relin¬ 
quish  much  of  his  business,  though  still  continuing  to 
practice  law  till  eighty,  indeed  till  the  last  day  of  life. 
When  passed  fourscore  he  argued  a  case,  which  involved 
a  nice  question  of  law,  before  the  full  bench  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  the  decision  of  which,  in  his  favor,  was 
rendered  after  his  death.  That  event  was  due  to  a  rail¬ 
road  accident,  March  19,  1892. 

5.  HENRY  HILL  ANDERSON. 

The  eldest  son  of  Dr.  Rufus  Anderson  was  a  native 
of  Boston.  He  studied  at  Phillips  Academy,  Andover; 
graduated  at  Williams  College,  cum  lazide,  1848,  and  im- 


3IQ 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


mediately  began  the  study  of  law  in  New  York,  where, 
the  next  year,  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar.  In  1852  he 
became  the  partner  of  A.  J.  Willard  —  afterwards  chief 
justice  of  South  Carolina  —  and  remained  in  that  firm  till 
1^85 7,  when  he  retired  and  spent  two  years  in  foreign 
travel.  On  his  return,  Mr.  Anderson  became  assistant 
under  the  Hon.  Greene  C.  Bronson,  Counsel  to  the  Cor¬ 
poration  of  New  York,  and  had  entire  charge  of  all  cases 
for  the  city.  Such  signal  success  attended  his  services  in 
that  capacity  as  secured  for  him  a  wide  and  gratifying 
reputation.  His  nomination  (1871)  by  the  Democratic 
party  for  the  bench  of  the  Supreme  Court  failed  of  suc¬ 
cess  ;  and  ever  after  he  declined  public  offices,  though 
solicited  more  than  once  to  accept  appointment.  One 
position  thus  declined  was  a  seat  in  the  Court  of  Appeals. 
As  the  counsel  of  large  estate  and  corporation  interests 
for  many  years,  he  exhibited  great  sagacity  and  enjoyed 
the  confidence  of  prominent  men,  being  accounted  a 
lawyer  of  sound  judgment  and  of  uniform  regard  for  the 
honor  of  his  profession.  He  stood  in  the  front  rank  at 
the  bar. 

Mr.  Anderson  had  connection  with  many  clubs  in 
New  York,  but  was  specially  interested  in  the  reorganiza¬ 
tion  of  the  University  Club,  of  which  he  was  for  nine 
years  the  president.  He  joined  the  Calvary  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church,  and  for  a  long  time  was  one  of  its 
vestrymen.  His  death  occurred  at  York  Harbor,  Sep¬ 
tember  17,  1896. 


LAWYERS. 


31  1 


6.  JOSIAH  WOODBURY  HUBBARD. 

Like  many  other  members  of  the  Boston  bar  Mr. 
Hubbard  hailed  from  New  Hampshire,  the  town  of  Nel¬ 
son  being  his  birthplace,  January  3,  1826.  The  father,  a 
physician,  removed  when  this  son  was  ten  years  of  age 
to  Springfield,  Vermont.  In  1848  Mr.  Hubbard  entered 
the  Harvard  Law  School ;  but  he  also  studied  in  the 
office  of  Governor  Metcalf  of  New  Hampshire,  as  well  as 
that  of  Hon.  O.  P.  Chandler  of  Woodstock,  Vermont. 
On  coming  to  Boston  he  was  for  some  years  in  partner¬ 
ship  with  Judge  Isaac  Storey,  and  afterwards  in  business 
by  himself. 

When  the  Walnut  Avenue  Church  was  formed  Mr. 
Hubbard  connected  himself  with  that  ;  and  for  a  long 
time  conducted  a  Bible  Class  of  ladies.  He  was  a  rever¬ 
ent  and  careful  student  of  the  sacred  volume;  a  man  of 
refinement,  helpful  in  religious  meetings,  and  ever  ready 
with  kind,  judicious  assistance  for  those  needing  aid.  At 
times  his  legal  knowledge  served  an  excellent  purpose  in 
ecclesiastical  councils.  His  death  took  place  September 
16,  1892. 


7.  DAVID  BRAINERD  GREENE. 

The  eldest  son  of  Rev.  David  Greene  was  born  in 
Boston,  November  11,  1830.  After  enjoying  the  advan¬ 
tages  of  our  excellent  Roxbury  schools,  he  matriculated 
at  Yale  College,  but  graduated  with  honors  at  Williams 
in  the  class  of  1852.  Almost  immediately  he  went  to 


312 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


New  York  City,  and  worked  in  a  law-office  till  admitted 
to  the  bar.  He  then  became  a  co-partner  in  the  law  firm 
of  Buckham,  Smales  &  Greene  for  several  years.  Later 
he  formed  another  partnership,  and  also  subsequently 
practiced  awhile  by  himself. 

In  i860  he  went  West,  and  when  the  war  broke  out 
the  next  year  he  enlisted  in  an  Iowa  regiment,  serving 
at  first  as  a  private.  He  then  raised  a  company,  of  which 
he  became  captain,  and  which  was  mustered  into  the 
third  regiment  of  Missouri  Infantry  Volunteers,  and  con¬ 
tinued  in  that  position,  serving  with  his  regiment  in 
Missouri,  Mississippi  and  Arkansas,  till  the  eleventh  of 
January,  1863,  when  he  was  killed  in  an  action  at  the 
beginning  of  the  battle  of  Arkansas  Post.  His  brother 
Roger  was  with  him  at  the  time,  but  the  shot  was  so 
instantly  fatal  that  no  conversation  could  be  had  between 
them. 

This  army  service  reminds  us  of  the  ancestral  patri¬ 
otism.  Mr.  Greene’s  grandfather,  Thomas  Greene,  when 
only  sixteen  years  old,  enlisted  as  a  soldier  near  the 
close  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  three  of  his  older  brothers 
being  captains  in  the  Continental  army.  He  lived  to  the 
age  of  eighty-four.  It  may  be  added  that  the  father  of 
Thomas  Greene,  William  Greene,  was  born  on  the  Atlan¬ 
tic  ocean,  while  his  mother,  recently  widowed,  was  return¬ 
ing  from  Old  England  to  New  England,  about  1712. 


LAWYERS. 


3*3 


8.  JEREMIAH  EVARTS  GREENE. 

Like  his  older  brother  David,  Mr.  Greene  was  born 
in  Boston,  November  27,  1834,  being  the  date.  Our 
Roxbury  Latin  School  gave  him  preparation  for  the 
University  of  the  City  of  New  York,  where  he  remained 
a  year;  then  entering  Yale  College  he  graduated  in 
1853.  For  four  years  he  was  engaged  in  teaching;  and 
after  that  for  two  years  (1857-1859),  being  acquainted 
with  civil  engineering,  was  occupied  in  surveying  public 
lands  in  western  Kansas.  Returning  to  Massachusetts, 
Mr.  Greene  studied  law  in  the  office  of  his  brother-in- 
law,  Louis  H.  Boutell,  Esq.,  and  on  being  admitted  to 
the  bar,  opened  an  office  in  North  Brookfield  (i860). 
The  family  of  Rev.  David  Greene  furnished,  as  we  shall 
see,  not  only  three  lawyers,  but  also  three  army  officers 
in  the  War  of  the  Rebellion.  This  son,  Jeremiah  Evarts, 
aided  (1861)  in  forming  a  military  company,  in  which  he 
was  commissioned  as  first  lieutenant,  and  of  which  he 
became  captain.  At  the  battle  of  Ball’s  Bluff  (October 
21,  1861)  he  was  taken  prisoner,  and  was  in  confinement 
at  Richmond  for  four  months.  Being  released  on  parole, 
and  failing  to  obtain  an  exchange,  he  resigned  his  com¬ 
mission  and  was  discharged  (1862). 

Resuming  practice  in  North  Brookfield  for  several 
years,  Mr.  Greene  then  removed  to  Worcester  (1868)  and 
became  editor  of  the  Worcester  Daily  Spy ,  and  continued 
in  that  position  twenty-three  years.  It  will  give  some  idea 
of  the  exacting  demands  of  such  editorship  to  state  that 


3*4 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


Mr.  Greene’s  writing  for  the  paper,  if  bound  up  separately, 
would  probably  amount  to  fifty  solid  octavo  volumes.  In 
the  meantime  he  also  furnished  able  papers  for  the  Ameri¬ 
can  Antiquarian  Society,  of  which  he  is  a  member.  One 
of  those,  which  were  also  published  in  separate  pamphlet 
form,  is  an  interesting  sketch  of  his  early  Alma  Mater , 
entitled  The  Roxbury  Latin  School \  Boston ,  Massachusetts : 
A  n  Outline  of  its  History ,  read  at  the  semi-annual  meet¬ 
ing  of  the  American  Antiquarian  Society,  April  27,  1887. 
In  1891  Mr.  Greene  was  appointed  postmaster  of  Wor¬ 
cester,  and  on  the  accession  of  President  McKinley  was 
reappointed  to  the  same  office. 

9.  HON.  ROGER  SHERMAN  GREENE. 

Another  son  of  Rev.  David  Greene  hails  from  Rox¬ 
bury  as  his  native  place,  having  been  born  there  Decem¬ 
ber  14,  1840.  The  family  afterwards  removed  to  West- 
borough,  and  when  their  dwelling-house  there  was 
destroyed  by  fire,  they  removed  to  Windsor,  Vermont. 
Roger  entered  the  Sophomore  Class  at  Dartmouth  Col¬ 
lege,  with  which  he  graduated  1859.  After  some  experi¬ 
ence  in  teaching,  he  began  the  study  of  law  with 
Governor  Coolidge,  then  a  lawyer  in  Windsor.  Thence 
he  went  to  New  York;  and  after  pursuing  study  for 
three  years  in  the  office  of  Evarts,  Southmayd  &  Choate, 
was  admitted  to  the  bar. 

The  Governor  of  Missouri  having  given  him  a  com¬ 
mission  as  second  lieutenant  in  the  company  of  which 


LAWYERS. 


31 5 


his  brother  David  was  captain,  he  joined  the  regiment 
then  at  Ironton,  October  20,  1862.  From  that  time  on 
he  served  in  the  western  forces  of  the  United  States  till 
the  close  of  the  war.  At  the  general  assault  on  Vicks¬ 
burg  he  received  a  severe  gunshot  wound.  In  August, 
1863,  the  president  appointed  him  captain  of  a  company 
of  Colored  Infantry,  and  with  that  body  of  troops  he 
served  till  his  discharge.  For  several  months  he  was  on 
staff  duty  with  the  general  commanding  the  troops 
of  which  his  regiment  formed  a  part,  and  for  several 
months  was  judge  advocate  of  the  District  of  Vicksburg, 
and  later  of  the  western  division  of  Louisiana.  He  par¬ 
ticipated  in  the  movements  of  General  Canby  in  his 
expedition  to  Mobile.  Owing  to  severe  sickness  he  had 
to  be  taken  North,  and  in  1865  received  an  honorable 
discharge.  The  next  year,  having  recovered  health,  Mr. 
Greene  commenced  a  five  years’  practice  of  law  in  Chi¬ 
cago.  President  Grant  appointed  him  associate  justice  of 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  Territory  of  Washington,  which 
position  he  held  for  nine  years.  After  being  twice  re¬ 
appointed  to  that  office  he  became  chief  justice  of  the 
same  court,  and  continued  in  the  same  position  till  1887. 
Since  then  he  has  been  in  legal  business  at  Seattle,  never, 
however,  practicing  in  criminal  courts.  Mr.  Greene  was 
the  prohibition  candidate  for  Congress  shortly  before 
Washington  Territory  became  a  state,  and  prohibition 
candidate  for  governor  in  1893.  Judge  Greene  recalls 
passages  of  Scripture  and  the  Westminster  Catechism 


3l6 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


which  he  committed  to  memory  in  early  boyhood  while 
a  member  of  the  Eliot  Church  Sunday  School.  He  is 
greatly  respected  in  the  Northwest  as  a  Christian  man 
and  an  honorable  citizen. 

IO.  WILLIAM  PHILLIPS  WALLEY. 

Second  son  of  Hon.  Samuel  Hurd  Walley,  and  grand¬ 
son  of  Miriam,  a  daughter  of  Hon.  William  Phillips  of 
Boston.  This  accounts  for  the  baptismal  name.  On  the 
paternal  side  he  was  descended  from  Rev.  Thomas  Wal¬ 
ley,  who  came  to  New  England  in  1663,  and  declining 
a  call  to  Boston,  settled  at  Barnstable.  His  son  John 
commanded  the  land  forces  in  the  expedition  against 
Canada  (1690) ;  was  for  ten  years  a  judge  of  the  Superior 
Court  of  the  Massachusetts  Province ;  was  a  member  of 
the  Old  South  Church,  Boston  ;  and  his  daughter  mar¬ 
ried  Rev.  Dr.  Sewall,  pastor  of  that  church  for  fifty-six 
years.  A  granddaughter  of  Judge  Walley  married  Hon. 
John  Phillips,  the  first  mayor  of  Boston.  Mr.  W.  P.  Wal¬ 
ley  was  born  in  Roxbury,  April  11,  1843;  graduated  from 
Harvard  College,  and  received  his  degree  of  Bachelor  of 
Laws  from  the  Harvard  Law  School,  1856.  He  died 
suddenly  in  Boston,  November  26,  1891. 

II.  GEN.  HENRY  WILLIAM  FULLER. 

Was  born  at  Hooksett,  New  Hampshire,  June  30, 
1838.  Pembroke  Academy,  Merrimac  Normal  Institute, 
and  Thetford  Academy,  gave  him  training  previous  to 


LAWYERS. 


3*7 

entering  Dartmouth  College,  where  he  was  matriculated 
at  the  age  of  sixteen,  graduating  in  1857.  The  degree  of 
ll.b.  was  received  from  the  Harvard  Law  School  in  1859. 
He  began  professional  practice  in  Concord,  New  Hamp¬ 
shire.  At  the  first  call  for  volunteers  (1861),  Mr.  Fuller 
enlisted  as  a  private,  but  rose  to  the  colonelcy  of  the 
33d  United  States  Infantry,  and  for  meritorious  services 
was  brevetted  brigadier-general.  At  the  close  of  the  war 
he  commenced  the  practice  of  law  in  the  office  of  his 
brother-in-law,  Hon.  William  Gaston.  For  four  years  he 
was  a  member  of  the  Massachusetts  House  of  Representa¬ 
tives  ;  for  three  years  was  in  the  Senate ;  and  succeeded 
Mr.  Wheelock  as  judge  of  the  Roxbury  Municipal  Court. 
Pneumonia  proved  fatal  to  him  April  7,  1885. 

12.  JOHN  WENTWORTH  PORTER. 

He  was  the  son  of  Rev.  William  Henry  Porter,  and 
grandson  of  Rev.  Huntington  Porter.  On  the  mother’s 
side  he  was  the  grandson  of  Hon.  John  Wentworth  —  a 
lawyer  well  known  as  a  member  of  the  Colonial  Con¬ 
gress —  and  Lydia  Cogswell,  one  of  nineteen  children  who 
were  all  baptized  in  the  Congregational  Church  at  Haver¬ 
hill,  Massachusetts.  John  was  an  unusually  conscientious 
boy.  His  older  brother  said  of  him,  that  he  was  always 
turning  himself  inside  out  to  see  if  he  could  find  any  sin 
in  himself.  Quarrel  or  fight  with  other  boys  he  would 
not,  however  much  tormented  by  them.  He  continued 
under  home  instruction  till  eleven  years  of  age,  when  he 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


3l8 


began  school  life  at  the  Comin’s  Grammar  School,  and 
the  first  day  rose  from  the  foot  to  the  head  of  the  class. 
After  a  few  weeks  the  principal  advised  that  he  be  re¬ 
moved  to  the  Latin  School.  After  a  year  spent  there  his 
eyesight  and  general  health  were  permanently  injured  by 
disease. 

He  had  a  special  fondness  for  committing  to  memory 
sacred  hymns  and  portions  of  Scripture.  In  reply  to  the 
question,  “  Why  do  you  spend  so  much  time  in  reciting 
chapters  from  the  Bible,  when  your  sight  is  so  weak  ?  ” 
he  said,  “  I  expect  to  be  blind  some  day,  and  am  storing 
my  mind  with  what  I  love  best.”  At  eleven  years  of  age 
he  joined  this  church,  and  the  evidence  of  his  being  more 
than  a  Christian  in  name  only  was  clear.  He  could  not 
recall  the  time  when  he  did  not  love  to  pray,  and  love 
the  people  and  the  Word  of  God.  The  Sabbath  and 
the  Sabbath  School  were  a  delight. 

Impaired  health  led  to  removal  (1871)  to  Rochester, 
Minnesota,  where  a  hemorrhage  of  the  lungs  occurred. 
Notwithstanding  this,  he  took  up  the  study  of  law  by 
himself,  and  afterwards  entered  a  law  office  in  Chicago. 
But  another  hemorrhage  soon  compelled  his  return  to 
Minnesota,  where  he  was  later  admitted  to  the  bar.  The 
business,  however,  consisting  chiefly  of  divorce  and  liquor 
cases,  had  no  attractions  for  him.  The  pastor  at  Roch¬ 
ester,  Rev.  Dr.  Fuller,  now  president  of  Central  Turkey 
College,  thought  highly  of  Mr.  Porter.  After  fifteen  years 
at  the  West,  he  and  his  widowed  mother  returned  to 


LAWYERS. 


31 9 


Boston  (1885)  and  rejoined  the  Eliot  Church.  He  was 
also  received  to  the  Suffolk  Bar  and  began  business  in 
this  part  of  the  city,  but  fatal  sickness  cut  short  his  days, 
August  29,  1887.  After  his  mother  had  kneeled  for 

prayer  at  his  bedside  he  asked  her  to  kiss  him,  and  then 
in  perfect  peace  fell  asleep  in  Jesus. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 


PHYSICIANS. 

Sickness  knows  no  favorites  ;  pays  no  compliments ; 
seldom  long  compassionates  childhood ;  and  less  often 
respects  old  age.  But  there  are  divine  designs  in  all 
this  —  admonitions  to  parents  and  friends,  concerning 
human  frailty,  the  value  of  health,  the  need  of  wise  pre¬ 
caution,  and  that  at  the  longest  there  can  be  only  a  brief 
residence  here.  Recovery  is  only  a  postponement  of  mor¬ 
tality,  and  is  not  sanctified  sickness  to  be  preferred  to 
unsanctified  health  ? 

Next  to  good  health  we  would  give  thanks  for  a 
good  physician.  But  while  confiding  in  him  we  would 
beware  of  unauthorized  expectations.  As  a  general 
thing  he  is  oftener  distrusted  than  the  pastor ;  and  if 
he  were  as  needlessly  sensitive  as  many  a  minister  is,  he 
would  probably  give  up  his  profession,  or  at  least  leave 
the  precinct.  The  indefeasible  Anglo-Saxon  right  of 
grumbling  seldom  has  scant  scope  on  these  two  men. 

In  reading  medical  biography  it  is  very  gratifying  to 
find  that  many  eminent  physicians,  like  Boerhaave,  Syden¬ 
ham  and  John  Mason  Good,  were  of  decidedly  religious 
character.  The  medical  men  of  our  congregation,  though 
not  of  great  eminence,  have  been  Christian  men.  The 
names  here  follow,  and  in  chronological  order,  whether 


PHYSICIANS. 


32I 


they  were  at  the  time  practitioners  in  Roxbury  prior  to 
1871,  or  began  practice  elsewhere  between  1834  and 
1871  ;  both  those  who  were  resident  practitioners,  and 
those  who,  earlier  or  later,  devoted  themselves  to  the  heal¬ 
ing  art  At  the  time  our  church  was  organized,  Dr. 
Prentiss  had  pretty  much  retired  from  practice.  Dr. 
Alcott,  during  his  connection  with  us,  hardly  became 
known  as  a  physician.  Roxbury  and  Boston  were  at  the 
period  referred  to  well  supplied ;  though  the  list  of  names 
with  M.  D.  attached  was  very  meager  compared  with 
that  which  numbers  over  a  thousand  and  five  hundred  at 
the  present  date. 

I.  DANIEL  FRANCIS  GULLIVER,  M.D. 

Occasionally  an  entire  household  were  enrolled  in 
our  membership,  “  All  in  the  ark.”  One  such  family  was 
that  of  Mr.  John  Gulliver,  a  man  conspicuous  for  Chris¬ 
tian  activity,  and  who  attained  the  age  of  eighty-seven 
years  —  Mrs.  Sarah  P.  Gulliver,  a  woman  of  rare  excel¬ 
lence  of  character,  who  died  in  1865  ;  the  late  Professor 
John  P.  Gulliver,  d.d.  ;  Miss  Sarah  P.  Gulliver,  afterwards 
the  wife  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Lewellyn  Pratt  ;  and  Daniel 
Francis  Gulliver,  m.d. 

Dr.  D.  F.  Gulliver  heads  the  list  of  our  young  men 
who  entered  the  medical  profession,  and  was  born  in  Bos¬ 
ton,  May  29,  1826.  In  the  Boston  Latin  School  and 
Andover  Phillips  Academy  he  pursued  preparatory  studies, 
and  graduated  from  Yale  College  in  the  class  of  1848. 


322 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


The  family  having  removed  to  Philadelphia,  he  attended 
lectures  in  the  Jefferson  Medical  College. 

Not  long  after  beginning  practice  at  Norwich,  Con¬ 
necticut,  Dr.  Gulliver  had  a  severe  attack  of  rheumatism, 
followed  by  a  heart  trouble  which  endangered  life,  and 
from  which  at  length  he  died  suddenly  in  his  carriage. 
May  24,  1895.  The  condition  of  his  health  interrupted 
professional  practice,  but  not  Christian  activity.  His 
presence  in  church  meetings,  and  his  conduct  of  a  Bible 
Class  were  highly  valued.  Later  he  joined  the  Broadway 
Church,  Norwich,  of  which  his  brother,  the  late  Dr.  John 
P.  Gulliver,  was  pastor,  and  whose  successor  at  the  present 
time  is  a  brother-in-law,  Dr.  Lewellyn  Pratt. 

Dr.  Daniel  Gulliver  became  a  member  of  the  Eliot 
Church  in  1841,  being  then  fourteen  years  of  age.  He 
was  characterized  by  delicacy  of  constitution,  by  sensitive¬ 
ness  and  refinement.  A  sunny  disposition  made  him  a 
very  agreeable  companion,  and  a  decided  Christian  char¬ 
acter  gave  him  power. 

2.  ALFRED  C.  GARRATT,  M.D. 

Born  in  Brook  Haven,  Long  Island,  October  3,  18 13* 
and  a  few  months  afterwards  was  rescued  by  his  grand¬ 
mother  from  the  British,  in  one  of  their  coast  raids.  She 
carried  him  in  her  arms  to  a  place  of  safety.  After  grad¬ 
uating  at  Union  College  he  studied  medicine  with  Dr. 
David  Nelson,  author  of  Cause  and  Cure  of  Infidelity. 
which  work  Dr.  Garratt  edited  and  carried  through  the 


PHYSICIANS. 


323 

press.  He  was  in  the  City  Hospital  of  New  York  dur¬ 
ing  the  entire  period  of  the  cholera  scourge  in  1831. 
Having  had  experience  in  general  practice  for  a  dozen 
years,  Dr.  Garratt  went  to  Germany  for  further  profes¬ 
sional  study,  and  devoted  himself  especially  to  what  was 
then  a  new  department,  Therapeutic  Electricity  as  applied 
to  nervous  diseases.  In  England  he  was  for  a  fortnight 
the  guest  of  the  Duke  of  Devonshire,  and  was  invited 
by  the  physician  of  Queen  Victoria  to  attend  a  consul¬ 
tation  upon  the  case  of  her  Majesty.  After  the  war  of 
Rebellion  he  treated  successfully  many  army  officers  and 
others,  who  suffered  from  the  strain  of  that  period.  Gen¬ 
eral  Burnside,  Charles  and  George  Sumner,  and  Henry 
W.  Longfellow  were  among  them.  He  was  the  author 
of  a  work  on  Electrical  Therapeutics,  which  went  through 
several  editions. 

Dr.  Garratt  was  a  man  of  very  decided  religious  char¬ 
acter.  On  becoming  seriously  impressed  at  the  threshold 
of  manhood,  his  heart  rose  in  vehement  rebellion  against 
the  character  and  government  of  God;  but  he  submitted 
in  penitent  acknowledgment  of  sinfulness,  and  united 
(1834)  with  the  First  Congregational  Church  in  New 
York  City.  He  acted  as  reporter  and  secretary  of  Rev. 
Charles  G.  Finney  during  his  earlier  labors  in  the  Chatham 
Street  Chapel.  Dr.  Garratt’s  connection  with  us  began 
in  1856,  but  the  next  year,  with  two  others  of  the  family, 
he  took  part  in  the  colonial  movement  to  Vine  Street- 
Later  he  became  a  member  and  an  officer  of  Park  Street 


324 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


Church,  Boston.  Without  being  a  member  of  any  tem¬ 
perance  society,  he  was  an  earnest  advocate  of  strict 
temperance.  Prayer  with  a  patient  was  no  unusual  thing. 
To  his  children  he  would  sometimes  say,  “  I  thank  God 
for  the  faculty  of  faith.”  His  last  days  were  full  of  peace, 
and  almost  the  last  conscious  act  was  singing 

“  Whilst  Thee  I  seek,  protecting  Power,” 

to  the  familiar  tune  of  Brattle  Street. 

June  30,  1891,  he  joined  the  General  Assembly  and 
Church  of  the  first  born. 

3.  HENRY  BLATCHFORD  WHEELWRIGHT,  M.D. 

A  descendant  from  Rev.  John  Wheelwright,  well  known 
in  colonial  days,  was  a  son  of  Ebenezer  Wheelwright,  who 
was  for  some  years  a  member  of  the  Eliot  Church.  Dr. 
Wheelwright  was  born  at  Portsmouth,  New  Hamp¬ 
shire,  May  22,  1824.  Having  prepared  for  college  at  the 
Boston  Latin  School,  he  entered  Harvard  with  the  class 
which  graduated  in  1844 ;  but  ill-health  necessitated  fre¬ 
quent  and  prolonged  absences  during  the  four  years’ 
course.  His  degree  of  A.  M.  was  dated  1848.  After 
service  as  master  of  the  Roxbury  Latin  School,  he  en¬ 
tered  the  Medical  School  of  Harvard  University  (1846),  ill- 
health  still  following  him.  While  a  medical  student  and 
assistant  to  his  instructor,  Dr.  B.  E.  Cotting  of  Roxbury, 
he  had  a  large  practice  among  the  poor  of  the  town,  and 
in  after  years  elsewhere  continued  to  practice  gratuitously 


PHYSICIANS. 


325 


among  the  same  class.  For  a  long  time  he  had  connec¬ 
tion  with  some  of  the  State  charitable  organizations  of 
Massachusetts,  as  Commissioner  of  Alien  Passengers  and 
Foreign  Paupers ;  General  Agent  of  the  Board  of  State 
Charities,  and  Superintendent  of  Out  Door  Poor.  He  is 
credited  with  an  important  work  in  securing  valuable 
amendments  of  our  poor-laws,  and  in  performing  much 
unrequited  benevolent  labor.  Dr.  Wheelright’s  residence 
was,  at  different  times,  in  Taunton,  Boston  and  Newbury- 
port.  In  the  last  named  place  he  died  of  apoplexy,  No¬ 
vember  2,  1892. 

4.  ARIEL  IVERS  CUMMINGS,  M.D. 

Dr.  Cummings  was  of  the  typical  New  England  stock, 
and  born  at  Ashburnham,  Mass.,  June  11,  1823.  Having 
a  tendency  to  pulmonary  disease  he  was  obliged  to  cut 
short  his  course  at  Dartmouth  College ;  but  after  recover¬ 
ing  health  sufficiently  he  studied  with  a  physician  in  New 
York  City,  and  graduated  at  the  medical  department  of 
New  York  University.  Before  coming  to  Boston  he  en¬ 
gaged  in  professional  practice  for  three  years  at  Acworth, 
New  Hampshire.  When  the  Civil  War  broke  out,  in 
1861,  he  offered  his  services  and  was  sent  to  Yorktown, 
Virginia,  for  service  in  the  hospital.  Soon,  however,  he 
received  appointment  as  surgeon  in  the  42d  Massachu¬ 
setts  Regiment,  Isaac  S.  Burrill,  Colonel.  That  regiment 
joined  General  Banks’  expedition  to  Texas.  While 
landing  at  Gloucester,  Texas,  they  were  taken  prisoners 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


3  2  6 


by  the  Confederates,  January  i,  1863.  Dr.  Cummings 
was  placed  in  the  rebel  hospital,  where  surgical  service 
was  much  needed.  But  he  was  seized  with  typhoid 
dysentery,  and  after  a  few  weeks  of  suffering,  received 
his  discharge  not  only  from  the  army,  but  from  all  earthly 
and  philanthropic  service.  Dr.  Cummings  was  a  Christian 
man  and  a  beloved  physician. 

5.  HENRY  S.  STEELE,  M.D. 

Dr.  Steele,  a  native  of  Hartford,  Connecticut,  was  not 
long  a  member  of  the  congregation.  It  was  evident  from 
the  first  of  his  coming  among  us  that  a  fatal  disease  was 
upon  him;  but  as  natural  life  drew  to  a  close,  spiritual 
life  seemed  evidently  to  be  imparted.  Confinement  to  his 
room  made  it  impracticable  for  Dr.  Steele  to  appear  per¬ 
sonally  in  the  usual  way  for  a  public  profession  of  faith, 
and  the  church,  by  a  special  vote,  suspended  its  rules, 
and  (March  13,  1857)  received  him  and  his  wife  to  its 
fellowship.  The  following  written  communication  and  an 
oral  statement  by  the  pastor  were  the  basis  of  that 
action : 

“  Within  the  last  few  weeks,  it  has  pleased  God  in  his  mercy  to 
give  me,  I  trust,  a  convincing  view  of  my  sinfulness  and  lost  estate  by 
nature  and  by  practice,  and  he  has,  as  I  hope,  given  me  by  his  Spirit 
a  saving  view  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  only  and  all-sufficient  Redeemer,  on 
whose  atonement  alone  do  I  now  rely  for  pardon  and  life  everlasting. 
Toward  him,  his  word,  his  people,  and  his  kingdom,  I  have  such  feel¬ 
ings  as  encourage  me  to  regard  myself  as  spiritually  a  new  man  in  him, 
and  to  profess  myself  a  disciple  of  his.  It  is  my  desire  to  leave  on 


PHYSICIANS. 


327 


record  a  testimony  to  his  wonderful  grace  and  loving-kindness  toward 
me  who  till  so  recently  had  remained  an  impenitent  sinner.  I  desire 
also,  if  it  be  consistent,  to  have  my  name  enrolled  among  his  avowed 
followers  and  friends ;  and  should  be  happy,  so  far  as  in  me  lies,  to 
honor  him  by  such  public  confession  of  faith  as  circumstances  will 
permit ;  and  that,  during  the  few  remaining  hours,  or  at  most  the  few 
days  that  I  may  remain  on  earth,  I  may  enjoy  the  prayers  and  privi¬ 
leges  of  the  visible  church. 

“  To  the  Articles  of  Faith  and  the  Covenant  of  the  Eliot  Church 
I  hereby  signify  my  full  assent.  My  prayer  is  that  God  may  abun¬ 
dantly  bless  the  brethren  and  sisters  in  Christ,  from  whom  I  am  soon 
to  be  separated  by  death;  and  that,  before  the  eleventh  hour  every  im¬ 
penitent  sinner  may  come  to  Jesus,  now  while  it  is  an  accepted  time 
and  a  day  of  salvation.” 

Dr.  Steele  had  pursued  literary  and  scientific  studies 
with  credit  to  himself ;  he  had  taken  counsel  of  others 
versed  in  the  healing  art;  had  repeatedly  tried  the  air  of 
more  genial  climates,  but  came  back  a  baffled  consump¬ 
tive  to  die  in  early  manhood.  It  was  not  till  then  that 
he  consulted  the  Great  Physician,  and  in  regard  to  the 
worst  of  all  maladies.  It  was  amidst  symbolic  breaking 
of  bread  and  shedding  of  blood,  that  he  seemed  to  hear 
the  crucified  Saviour  say,  “  Today  shalt  thou  be  with  me 
in  Paradise.” 


6.  STEPHEN  WALLACE  BOWLES,  M.D. 

Was  born  at  Machias,  Maine,  December  21,  1835, 
the  oldest  son  ot  Stephen  J.  Bowles,  who,  having  removed 
with  his  family  to  this  place,  joined  the  Eliot  Church  in 


328 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


1846.  Stephen  W.  graduated  from  Williams  College  in 
the  same  class  with  Gen.  James  A.  Garfield  (1856).  Three 
years  later,  having  completed  the  course  at  the  College 
of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  New  York  City,  he  went  to 
Europe  for  the  purpose  of  studying  with  Dr.  Trousseau 
and  others  in  Paris.  He  served  as  surgeon  in  the  late 
war,  and  also  practiced  his  profession  in  Brattleboro, 
Vermont,  and  Yonkers,  New  York,  before  establishing 
himself  in  Springfield,  Massachusetts  (1871).  He  was  a 

prominent  physician  in  that  city,  holding  for  some  years 

* 

a  position  on  the  staff  of  the  hospital.  Dr.  Bowles  was 
very  much  beloved  and  esteemed.  His  death  occurred 
February  12,  1895,  but  interment  took  place  in  the  family 
lot  at  Mount  Auburn. 

7.  TIMOTHY  R.  NUTE,  M.D. 

A  son  of  Captain  James  Nute,  and  born  in  Mad- 
bury,  New  Hampshire,  June  22,  1819.  He  was  a  pupil 
at  Gilmanton  Academy;  taught  school  in  Newmarket; 
studied  medicine  with  Dr.  Isaac  W.  Lougee,  in  Alton, 
and  at  the  Dartmouth  Medical  School.  He  established 
himself  in  practice  at  Roxbury,  1850,  and  early  the  next 
year  joined  the  Eliot  Church,  bringing  a  letter  from 
Newmarket,  New  Hampshire.  Fourteen  years  later  (1865) 
he  removed  to  Chicago,  where  he  died  of  angina  pectoris, 
March  10,  1879. 


PHYSICIANS. 


329 


8.  BENJAMIN  MANN,  M.D. 

Richard  Mann  of  Mayflower  memory  settled  on  what 

still  bears  the  name  Mann  Hill  in  Scituate.  From  him, 

* 

in  the  sixth  generation,  came  our  Dr.  Mann,  who  was 
born  at  Randolph,  Massachusetts,  March  31,  1814.  He 
graduated  from  Amherst  College  with  the  class  of  1837, 
and  began  medical  study  under  Dr.  Ebenezer  Alden  in 
his  native  town,  pursuing  studies  afterwards  with  Drs. 
Perry  and  Bowditch  in  Boston.  He  also  attended  lectures 
in  the  Harvard  Medical  School,  from  which  his  degree 
of  M.  D.  was  received  in  1840. 

He  began  practice  in  Foxborough,  where  he  re¬ 
ceived  a  call  and  settlement,  in  some  sense  as  is  the  case 
with  a  pastor,  prominent  men  in  the  town  agreeing  to 
make  up  a  certain  sum  if  his  income  came  short.  That, 
however,  did  not  occur.  In  the  course  of  twelve  years 
practice  extended  to  adjoining  towns,  and  made  too  large 
demands  upon  his  strength.  Hence  his  removal  to  Rox- 
bury  (1852),  where  he  continued  in  professional  occupation 
till  his  death  in  Brooklyn,  New  York,  on  a  return  trip 
from  Florida.  At  the  age  of  eighteen  Dr.  Mann  became 
a  communicant  in  the  First  Church  of  Randolph.  In 
Foxborough  he  led  the  choir  in  Sunday  services,  and 
was  much  endeared  to  the  people.  On  removing  from 
the  town  an  ovation  was  tendered  him.  In  his  connec¬ 
tion  with  the  Eliot  Church  he  was  esteemed  as  a  Chris¬ 
tian  man,  and  for  a  wide  circle  of  patients  he  was  “  The 
beloved  physician.” 


33° 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


9.  FRANCIS  H.  DAVENPORT,  M.D. 

Dr.  Davenport  hails  from  Boston,  Roxbury  District, 
where  he  was  born  March  27,  1851,  a  son  of  Mr.  Henry- 
Davenport,  who  was  for  some  years  Clerk  of  the  Eliot 
Church.  Our  Latin  School  gave  him  preparation  for 
college.  Williams  College  gave  his  A.  B.  with  the  class 
of  1870,  and  the  Harvard  Medical  School  his  degree  of 
M.  D.  in  1874.  Gynecology  is  his  specialty.  In  that 
department  he  is  achieving  distinction,  having  been  suc¬ 
cessively  Assistant,  Instructor,  and  now  Assistant  Pro¬ 
fessor  in  the  Harvard  Medical  School.  He  has  been  Phy¬ 
sician  to  St.  Luke’s  Hospital  for  convalescents,  etc.,  and 
is  at  the  present  time  Assistant  Surgeon  to  the  Free 
Hospital  for  Women.  In  1889  he  appeared  as  the  author 
of  a  Manual  on  one  class  of  diseases. 

Dr.  Davenport  is  a  son,  as  above  stated,  of  the  late 
Mr.  Henry  Davenport,  who  died  January  24,  1898,  at 
the  residence  of  his  son-in-law,  Dr.  Clement  Cleveland  in 
New  York  City.  He  attained  the  age  of  eighty-seven. 
Seven  years  before  that  he  retired  from  business  connec¬ 
tion  with  the  Pacific  Mills,  of  which  company  he  had 
been  an  officer  for  nearly  forty  years.  Mr.  Henry  Daven¬ 
port  was  one  of  the  original  members  of  the  Boston 
Genealogical  Society,  and  Vice-President  of  the  Numis¬ 
matic  Society. 

IO.  ROBERT  BELL,  M.D. 

Dr.  Bell’s  birthplace  was  Alnwick,  the  well-known 
seat  of  the  Dukes  of  Northumberland,  “  The  Hotspur 
Percys.”  His  grandfather,  Robert  Bell,  going  from  Glas- 


PHYSICIANS. 


33 1 


gow,  settled  in  Alnwick,  was  a  devoted  friend  of  the  Free 
Church,  and  a  successful  manufacturer.  Dr.  Bell’s  early 
education  was  in  our  Roxbury  schools,  and  he  had  from 
boyhood  a  strong  desire  to  be  a  physician,  a  desire  fos¬ 
tered  partly  by  the  fact  that  a  cousin  of  his  had  become 
a  prominent  practitioner  in  Glasgow,  the  ancestral  city. 
Dr.  Bell,  being  the  eldest  child  in  a  large  family,  assisted 
in  the  education  of  the  younger  members  till  they  had 
graduated  at  the  High  School.  He  entered  Phillips 
Academy,  Andover,  and  graduated  there  in  1879.  A 
full  course  at  the  Harvard  Medical  School  was  immedi¬ 
ately  commenced,  and  the  degree  of  M.  D.  secured  in 
1884.  Out  of  a  class  of  eighty  he  was  one  of  the  five 
successful  candidates  for  appointment  as  Home  Physician 
to  the  Boston  Lying-in  Hospital,  and  two  full  years  of 
clinic  experience  was  of  great  value.  Then  followed 
three  years  of  practice  at  Roxbury.  In  1887  he  entered 
on  practice  in  Medway.  It  was  a  large  and  a  hard 
service.  Dr.  Bell  had  never  been  rugged ;  the  heaviest 
of  domestic  bereavements  contributed  to  failure  of  health; 
and  a  severe  bronchial  asthma  necessitated  an  entire  with- 
drawment  from  professional  practice. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 


ARTISTS. 

It  was  not  due  to  our  public  school  system,  however 
excellent,  that  certain  earlier  members  of  the  Eliot  Church 
had  their  thoughts  turned  to  art,  and  had  their  taste 
cultivated.  In  those  days  schoolrooms  were  as  bare  of 
decoration  as  if  all  the  pupils  were  expected  to  be  blind. 
It  seems  not  to  have  occurred  to  committees  and  teachers 
that  among  the  elements  in  every  human  being  is  a 
capacity  for  discerning  the  beautiful  in  form  and  color¬ 
ing;  that  any  course  of  education  is  defective  which  fails 
to  contemplate  this  source  of  refining  culture,  and  which 
fails  to  provide  for  it  early.  While  Boston  and  its  en¬ 
virons  took  comparative  lead  in  the  introduction  of  sing¬ 
ing  as  a  branch  in  our  public  schools,  it  was  not  till  1870 
that  any  organized  and  effective  movement  was  made  in 
the  direction  now  referred  to.  That  was  a  pioneer  move¬ 
ment,  preceding  by  ten  years  the  association  for  a  similar 
purpose  in  London,  of  which  Ruskin  was  president  and 
Matthew  Arnold  one  of  the  Vice  Presidents.  Many  of  our 
public  school  buildings  have  now  been  redeemed  from 
former  barrenness.  Church  architecture  and  domestic 
architecture,  with  their  interior  appointments,  not  to  speak 
of  other  evidences  of  improved  taste,  already  show  a 
gratifying  advance  on  the  right  line. 


ARTISTS. 


3  33 


I.  SAMUEL  LANCASTER  GERRY. 

Mr.  Gerry,  like  many  others  in  the  congregation, 
came  of  Puritan  stock.  Some  of  his  ancestors  were  en¬ 
gaged  in  the  colonial  wars ;  and  his  grandfather  was  in 
the  Lexington  engagement,  1755,  as  well  as  in  later  Rev¬ 
olutionary  engagements.  Mr.  Gerry  was  born  in  Boston, 
March  10,  1813.  A  taste  for  drawing  was  developed  in 
boyhood,  and  his  earlier  art  productions  were  miniatures 
on  ivory.  Then  followed  portraits  in  oil  colors,  exhibiting 
peculiar  softness  and  delicacy  of  flesh  tints.  Notwithstand¬ 
ing  success  and  pecuniary  profit  in  that  line,  he  turned 
to  landscape  painting.  More  than  two-score  summers 
were  spent  at  the  White  Mountains,  and  his  pencil  per¬ 
formed  much  the  same  service  for  that  region  as  did  the 
pen  of  Rev.  Starr  King.  A  four  years’  study  in  Europe 
(1850-1854)  brought  him  into  acquaintance  with  various 
eminent  artists,  among  whom  were  our  Hiram  Powers  and 
Horatio  Greenough.  Other  visits  abroad  were  also  made, 
one  of  two  years  (1873-1874),  with  a  part  of  his  family. 
Mr.  Gerry  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Boston  Art 
Club,  and  was  repeatedly  chosen  its  President.  He  lec¬ 
tured  on  art  in  Boston  and  at  Wheaton  Academy,  as  well 
as  elsewhere.  Articles  from  his  pen  were  often  con¬ 
tributed  to  leading  journals  or  magazines. 

Mr.  Gerry  did  not  have  the  benefit  of  a  religious 
training  in  early  life,  and  up  to  about  thirty  years  of 
age  entertained  erroneous  and  skeptical  views.  But  a 
careful  reading  of  the  Bible  dispelled  those  notions,  and 


334 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


he  was  led  into  the  light  as  a  penitent  and  humble  be¬ 
liever  in  Jesus  Christ,  the  sole  Saviour  from  sin.  He 
was  a  more  than  usually  devout  and  conscientious  as  well 
as  cultured  man.  He  discountenanced  theater-going,  and 
would  not  have  his  children  learn  to  dance.  Having 
removed  his  relation  to  the  Walnut  Avenue  Church  he 
furnished  a  hymn  for  the  dedication  of  their  place  of 
worship,  which  is  above  the  average  of  such  contributions. 
One  specimen  will  show  how  happy  his  remarks  often 
were  at  devotional  meetings: 

“  In  the  autumn  we  miss  some  of  the  fair  colors  of 
the  new  foliage  of  the  earlier  seasons,  but  if  the  hues 
are  more  somber,  the  vistas  open,  and  we  can  see  further, 
for  the  blasts  that  strew  the  earth  with  fallen  leaves  clear 
away  the  obstructions  to  our  field  of  vision,  and  the  dis¬ 
tant  scenes  become  unveiled.  So  it  is  in  the  autumn  of 
life.”  Mr.  Gerry’s  death  was  a  peaceful  one,  and  took 
place  April  26,  1891. 

2.  MRS.  VICTORIA  ADELAIDE  ROOT. 

Mrs.  Root  was  one  of  Mr.  S.  L.  Gerry’s  pupils.  A 
shaded  romance  attaches  to  her  early  life.  The  parents 
came  from  England ;  and  the  title  for  a  tract  of  land 
which  the  father  purchased  in  Illinois  proved  to  be  value¬ 
less.  The  mother,  a  delicate  London-born  woman,  died; 
and  soon  after  the  father  was  killed  in  a  steamboat  ex¬ 
plosion  on  the  Mississippi  River,  leaving  two  little  orphan 
daughters.  They  were  adopted  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Artemas 


ARTISTS. 


335 


Ward,  who  died  of  cholera  in  1849.  Their  only  daughter, 
Miss  Patience  P.  Ward,  being  thus,  like  the  two  sisters 
by  adoption,  also  now  an  orphan,  kindly  took  the  place 
of  mother  to  them.  She  afterwards  purchased  a  house 
in  Roxbury,  near  that  of  the  late  Dr.  Rufus  Anderson, 
and  with  the  older  of  the  two  daughters  joined  the  Eliot 
Church  (1864). 

Mrs.  Root  attended  school  in  New  York  and  else¬ 
where  ;  and  before  coming  to  Roxbury  had  taken  lessons 
in  art.  She  began  painting  and  sold  her  pictures.  In 
1871  she  went  to  Europe  and  studied  a  year  in  Florence. 
After  that  she  entered  Julien’s  atelier  in  Paris,  and  was 
favored  with  the  criticisms  of  professors  of  Beaux  Arts, 
at  the  same  time  working  from  cast  and  from  life,  as  well 
as  copying  in  the  Louvre  and  Luxembourg.  A  copy  by 
her  of  Teniers  was  bought  by  a  sister  of  the  late  John 
Bright,  M.  P. 

Before  going  to  Europe  Mrs.  Root  had  had  classes 
in  painting ;  and  removing  to  Chicago  had  two  large 
popular  classes  most  of  the  time  for  five  years.  She 
took  up  china  decorating  with  success,  and  sold  over  six 
hundred  pieces.  She  wrote  on  art  for  the  Chicago  Times 
and  other  papers.  But  the  eyes  gave  out ;  and  being 
obliged  to  suspend  for  the  most  part  both  painting  and 
writing,  has  removed,  on  account  of  health,  to  Florida. 

3.  MISS  EMILY  PERCY  MANN. 

The  elder  daughter  of  Dr.  Benjamin  Mann  made 
public  profession  of  faith  in  1857.  A  taste  and  stimulus 


33^ 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


for  art  came  from  the  mother,  who  was  familiar  with 
palette  and  brush.  Miss  Mann’s  first  systematic  study 
of  art  began  in  the  Normal  Art  School  of  Boston,  where 
she  took  examinations  in  perspective  and  geometry,  and 
in  all  free-hand  studies.  Water-color  study  was  pursued 
under  Mr.  Ross  Turner,  in  whose  summer  sketching 
class  she  was  for  four  years  an  assistant.  Later  came 
engagement  with  a  class  of  professional  artists  under  Mr. 
Arthur  W.  Dow. 

Miss  Mann  had,  for  many  years,  summer  out-of-door 
classes  in  Kennebunkport  and  Portland,  teaching  also, 
during  the  winter,  in  her  studio,  as  well  as  in  Boston 
private  schools.  Her  most  marked  success  was  in  decora¬ 
tive  work  from  chrysanthemums,  Japanese  paper  and  a 
treatment  somewhat  after  Japanese  style  being  employed. 
Work  in  water-color  landscape  and  flowers  might  be  seen 
at  the  exhibitions  in  Boston,  Chicago,  Philadelphia  and 
New  York,  as  well  as  elsewhere.  It  was  a  gratifying  tes¬ 
timonial  to  her  skill  that  at  the  Water-Color  Exhibition 
in  the  city  last  named,  three  years  ago,  a  picture  of  hers 
was  the  first  one  sold,  the  purchaser  being  a  member  of 
the  jury.  Miss  Mann  died  at  Framingham,  October  18, 
1899. 


4.  MR.  FRANK  THAYER  MERRILL. 

The  earliest  New  England  ancestor  on  the  father’s 
side  was  Nathaniel  Merrill,  who  came  to  this  country 
shortly  after  1630,  and  was  of  French  Huguenot  origin, 
Merle  being  the  original  form  of  the  name.  The  mother 


ARTISTS. 


337 


of  Mr.  Frank  Merrill’s  father  was  of  German  extraction, 
and  her  father  was  an  officer  in  the  Continental  army 
under  Washington  at  Valley  Forge.  Mr.  Merrill’s  own 
mother,  Sarah  Alden,  a  descendant  in  the  seventh  gen¬ 
eration  from  John  Alden  of  the  “  Mayflower,”  was  a  member 
of  Mr.  S.  H.  Walley’s  Bible  Class  in  the  Eliot  Sunday 
School.  She  had  an  unusual  love  for  art,  and  a  decided 
ability  in  that  line,  and  this  is  one  of  innumerable  cases 
in  which  the  mother  reappears  in  the  son. 

Mr.  Merrill’s  art  studies  began  in  the  Drawing 
School  of  the  Lowell  Institute,  and  were  continued  in 
the  school  connected  with  the  Boston  Museum  of  Fine 
Arts.  His  productions  —  and  they  are  a  marked  success 
—  have  been  confined,  for  the  most  part,  to  the  illustra¬ 
tion  of  books  and  magazines,  with  occasional  work  in 
water-colors.  A  tour  of  five  months  in  Europe  was  of 
much  value  as  a  source  of  instruction  and  inspiration. 
Mr.  Merrill  joined  the  Eliot  Church  in  1866.  In  the 
Walnut  Avenue  Church  he  has  held  the  office  of  Deacon, 
Superintendent  of  the  Sabbath  School,  as  well  as  other 
positions. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 


DEAF-MUTES. 

Of  this  class  there  have  been  several  members.  Very 
few  of  the  congregation  are  conversant  with  the  sign- 
language;  and  as  communication  by  writing  is  slow,  per¬ 
sonal  acquaintance  has  not  been  general  nor  intimate. 
But  the  individuals  now  referred  to  have  uniformly 
attended  church  on  sacramental  occasions ;  have  been 
much  respected,  and  a  deeper  interest  in  them  has  been 
felt  than  could  be  easily  expressed. 

No  class  in  the  community  who  labor  under  natural 
infirmities  awaken  prompter  sympathy.  The  number  of 
such  in  the  whole  country  is  supposed  to  be  not  far 
from  fifty  thousand,  and  the  increase  is  larger  propor¬ 
tionately  than  that  of  the  entire  population.  In  the 
United  States  there  are  sixty-three  public  and  sixteen 
private  or  denominational  schools  for  this  class,  which 
have  a  total  average  attendance  of  about  ten  thousand 
pupils.  The  oldest  of  these  institutions,  founded  in 
1817,  is  the  one  at  Hartford,  Connecticut.  Most  of  the 
public  schools  are  maintained,  free  of  charge,  at  State 
expense. 

A  considerable  number  of  the  deaf  become  members 
of  different  churches,-  the  larger  number  being  Episco¬ 
palians,  as  the  liturgical  form  of  worship  is  better  suited 


DEAF-MUTES. 


339 


to  their  condition.  There  is  one  Roman  Catholic  mission 
in  behalf  of  mutes  who  adhere  to  that  faith. 

In  our  economic  world  this  class  are  generally  doing 
well,  being,  in  the  main,  industrious  and  self-supporting, 
as  farmers,  mechanics,  and  the  like.  There  have  been 
instances  of  success  in  different  branches  of  art,  and  a 
few  cases  of  success  in  the  professions  —  ministry,  law, 
architecture,  and  engineering.  Gallaudet  College,  Wash¬ 
ington,  District  of  Columbia,  has  an  enviable  place  as 
the  only  institution  of  the  same  grade,  for  this  class,  in 
the  world.  It  is  supported  by  our  national  government, 
and  receives  students  from  every  part  of  the  country. 

One  of  the  well-known  and  justly  distinguished  mutes 
was  John  Carlin,  a  miniature  painter,  whose  work  ranked 
among  the  best.  Another  was  Rev.  Henry  W.  Syle,  a 
student  of  Cambridge,  England,  who  took  his  degree  of 
A.  B.  from  Yale  by  passing,  at  one  time,  a  full  examina¬ 
tion  in  writing  on  all  the  studies  of  the  four-years’  course. 
He  held  a  responsible  position  in  the  United  States  mint 
at  Philadelphia;  and  became  rector  of  the  All  Souls’ 
Church  for  the  deaf  in  that  city.  Mr.  H.  Humphrey 
Moore,  a  native  of  Philadelphia,  has  for  many  years  been 
one  of  the  leading  artists  in  Paris.  Mr.  Douglas  Tilden, 
of  San  Francisco,  studied  sculpture  in  the  city  last  named, 
and  since  his  return  has  produced  more  than  one  credit¬ 
able  work. 

The  names  of  Laura  Bridgman  and  the  wonderful 
Helen  Keller,  suffering  from  blindness  in  addition  to 
deafness,  are  widely  known. 


340 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


During  the  period  under  review  deaf-mutes  to  the 
number  of  six  were  welcomed  to  our  fellowship,  and  not¬ 
withstanding  their  silence,  have  been  valued  members. 
So  far  as  is  known  they  “Walked  worthy  of  the  vocation 
wherewith  they  were  called,”  and  a  very  tender  interest 
was  felt  in  them.  The  silent  pastoral  visits  at  their 
homes  are  remembered  as  among  the  most  noteworthy  of 
former  years. 


I.  JONATHAN  P.  MARSH. 

The  oldest  son  of  Rev.  Frederick  Marsh.  His  father 
was,  for  over  two-score  years  (1809-1851),  a  highly  valued 
pastor  of  the  church  in  Winchester,  Connecticut,  and  was 
an  occasional  visitor  at  my  father’s  house.  Among  his 
ancestors  was  the  man  who  hid  the  Colonial  Charter  in 
an  oak  tree,  when  Andros  was  in  Hartford.  This  son 
Jonathan  was  born  in  Winchester,  April  26,  1814.  Owing 
to  a  severe  sickness  before  two  years  of  age,  he  lost  the 
sense  of  hearing.  Miss  Z.  P.  Grant,  afterwards  a  dis¬ 
tinguished  educator  associated  with  the  Rev.  Joseph  Emer¬ 
son,  taught  him  drawing  and  writing.  From  thirteen 
onward  he  was,  for  six  years,  at  the  well  known  school 
in  Hartford,  of  which  Rev.  Thomas  H.  Gallaudet  was 
founder  and  then  the  principal.  He  afterwards  wrought 
at  his  trade  as  cabinetmaker  and  piano-maker  in  that 
city;  also  in  New  York  City,  Boston,  and  elsewhere.  In 
the  course  of  a  revival  in  his  father’s  church  he  became 
greatly  distressed  about  his  spiritual  state,  and  many  times 


DEAF-MUTES. 


341 


inquired,  “How  shall  I  repent  of  my  sins?”  Pardon  and 
peace  came  at  length  through  the  discovery  of  Christ’s 
atoning  merits,  and  in  1838  he  joined  the  Brick  Church, 
New  York,  Dr.  Gardiner  Spring,  pastor.  Some  distress¬ 
ing  spiritual  struggles  were  afterwards  experienced ;  but 
turning  the  eye  of  faith  to  Christ  as  Saviour,  he  then  tes¬ 
tified,  “  How  beautiful  is  the  holiness  and  glory  of  God.” 
“  Abba,  Father  ”  was  his  heart’s  cry ;  and  giving  himself 
up  to  God  in  Christ  cheerfully  for  life,  he  had  foretastes 
of  heaven. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Marsh  became  members  of  the  Eliot 
Church  in  1851.  On  coming  to  Boston  he  started  a 
Bible  Class  of  Deaf-Mutes,  as  there  was  at  that  time  no 
other  provision  for  their  public  instruction  and  worship. 
The  vestry  of  Park  Street  Church,  and  then  one  of  the 
rooms  in  the  Mount  Vernon  Church  were  placed  at  their 
service.  The  class  increased  in  number  till  there  was  an 
average  attendance  of  over  thirty.  There  came  a  season 
(1857-58)  of  special  religious  interest,  when  seven  indi¬ 
viduals  expressed  the  hope  of  a  saving  change.  In  1862 
the  “  Boston  Deaf-Mute  Christians’  Association  ”  was  or¬ 
ganized  ;  and  during  all  those  years  Mr.  Marsh  was  much 
respected  as  a  consistent  and  useful  Christian  man.  After 
residence  here  and  labors  of  about  thirty  years,  Mr.  Marsh 
removed  to  Connecticut,  and  later  to  Illinois ;  but  health 
having  failed,  the  family  were  welcomed  again  (1897)  to 
their  former  church  home  with  us.  His  two  daughters 
married  mutes,  and  the  children  of  one  follow  their  parents 


342 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


as  regards  their  infirmity,  while  the  children  in  the  other 
family  have  the  sense  of  hearing. 

At  eighty-four  years  of  age,  and  after  sixty  years  of 
unblemished  church  membership,  Mr.  Marsh  fell  asleep 
in  Jesus  (March  2,  1898)  to  awake  where  the  tongue  of 
the  dumb  shall  sing. 

2.  MRS.  PAULINE  P.  MARSH. 

A  native  of  Douglass,  Massachusetts  (1817),  and  edu¬ 
cated  in  Hartford  at  the  same  time  as  Mr.  Marsh.  After 
graduation  and  before  marriage  she  had  a  private  pupil  in 
Rhinebeck,  New  York,  and  then  one  in  New  Bedford, 
Massachusetts,  who  labored  under  the  same  infirmity  as 
herself.  Marriage  having  taken  place  in  1840,  the  fifty- 
fifth  anniversary  came  January  24,  1895,  an<^  was  duly 
observed  by  friends.  Some  of  those  who  were  not  able 
to  be  personally  present  wrote  congratulatory  letters,  with 
expressions  of  warm  friendship  and  deep  respect.  One 
fellow  pupil  at  Hartford  wrote  : 

“You  did  a  great  deal  of  good  at  the  Asylum  by 
giving  religious  lectures  to  the  pupils  at  different  times, 
as  well  as  by  undoubted  Christian  character.”  Rev. 
Thomas  Gallaudet,  from  New  York,  said: 

“  I  have  watched  your  course  during  your  long  lives 
and  have  always  esteemed  you  most  highly  for  your  con¬ 
sistent  Christian  character.  You  have  set  good  and 
wholesome  examples.  You  have  exerted  elevating  and 
purifying  influences  from  affectionate  and  cheerful  hearts. 


DEAF-MUTES. 


343 


You  have  made  the  religion  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour 
Jesus  Christ  a  living  reality.  My  dear  father  and  mother 
always  loved  you  and  often  spoke  of  their  regard  for  you. 
I  remember  you  in  my  early  life  when  you  were  pupils 
at  the  American  Asylum  in  Hartford,  and  your  pleasant, 
bright  faces  were  imprinted  on  my  memory  in  such  a 
way  that  they  are  fresh  and  clearly  defined  today.  I  re¬ 
member  my  visits  to  you  in  Boston ;  I  have  met  you  at 
conventions  and  other  gatherings  of  deaf-mutes,  and  have 
always  admired  your  gracious  manners  and  intelligent 
expressions  of  thoughts  and  feelings.  The  good  seeds 
which  you  have  sown  so  faithfully  and  perseveringly  have 
yielded  abundant  fruit.”  Mrs.  Marsh  was  greatly  affected 
by  the  death  of  her  husband,  and  only  three  months  after¬ 
wards  followed  him  to  the  home  on  high. 

3.  MRS.  PAULINE  MARSH  BOWES. 

The  children  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Marsh  all  labored  un¬ 
der  the  same  infirmity  as  their  parents.  Their  only  son, 
J.  Frederick,  died  in  boyhood,  aged  fifteen  years.  Cath¬ 
arine  B.,  the  older  of  two  daughters,  spent  nine  years  at 
the  Hartford  School,  and  in  1867  married  Mr.  Adam 
Acheson.  There  is  something  noticeably  impressive  and 
even  pathetic  in  pastoral  calls  on  such  families  at  which 
not  a  word  is  spoken ;  and  so,  too,  at  funeral  services. 

The  second  daughter,  Pauline  M.,  married  Mr. 
Bowes,  and  is  now  a  grandmother  living  in  Chicago.  She 
was  born  May  21,  1845,  and  spent  eight  years  in  the  in- 


344 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


stitution  at  Hartford  where  her  parents  were  educated. 
Examination  for  membership  in  the  Eliot  Church  was 
conducted  in  writing,  November,  1866.  She  had  then 
entertained  the  Christian  hope  for  six  months.  She  had 
previously  tried,  at  different  times,  to  be  a  Christian  and 
to  do  what  the  Bible  requires,  but  soon  forgot  all.  At 
length  came  conviction  of  sin,  and  the  felt  need  of  a 
Saviour.  Among  her  written  statements  are  these  : 

“Felt  that  I  was  a  lost  sinner;  prayed  to  Jesus 
Christ  as  never  before ;  prayed  many  times  a  day ;  felt  no 
interest  in  worldly  things.  By  and  by  relief  came  to  my 
burdened  soul;  love  to  Jesus  sprang  up;  thought  of  him 
all  day  long.  O,  I  love  him  indeed  !  ” 

4.  MR.  WILLIAM  LYNDE. 

Was  born  at  Saybrook,  Connecticut,  October  11,  1823. 
His  earliest  known  ancestor  was  Enoch  Lynde,  a  London 
merchant,  who  died  1636.  Simon,  a  grandson  of  the  latter, 
came  to  Boston  in  1650,  and  became  Assistant  Justice  of 
the  Court  of  Pleas  and  Sessions;  dying,  1680,  his  remains 
were  committed  to  a  tomb  in  the  Granary  Burying  Ground. 
One  of  his  grandsons,  Joseph,  married  Ann  Lord  of  Say- 
brook,  Connecticut.  Their  son  William  graduated  from 
Yale  College,  1760,  and  married  Rebecca,  daughter  of 
Rev.  William  Hart,  of  Saybrook.  William,  a  grandson 
of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hart,  was  the  friend  now  in  mind. 

When  six  months  old,  scarlet  fever  deprived  him  of 
hearing.  Entering  the  Hartford  Asylum  for  Deaf-Mutes 


deaf— mms- 


345 


at  ten  years  of  age.  he  spent  five  and  a  half  years  there, 
and  graduated  'with  honor.  For  thirty-six  years  he  was 
employed  by  Chickering  &  Sons  in  their  piano  manu¬ 
factory;  also  thirteen  years  by  Hallet  &  Davis.  At  one 
time  when  that  business  was  dull.  Mr.  Lynde  had  em¬ 
ployment  at  the  Watertown  Arsenal,  walking  six  miles 
from  Roxbury  each  way  for  eighteen  months,  and  was 
obliged  to  he  at  work  by  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning. 
That  was  just  at  the  beginning  of  our  Civil  War:  and 
on  account  of  pressure  of  business,  he  was  required  to 
appear  for  work  on  Sundays,  or  be  discharged.  He  re¬ 
fused  to  work  on  the  Lords  Day.  After  two  Sundays 
he  was  allowed  to  return,  his  religious  scruples  being 
respected. 

The  sketch  of  Mr.  J.  R.  Marsh  makes  mention  of 
religious  interest  in  his  Bible  Class  (1S57-5S .  Owing  to 
imitiences  in  that  class,  to  Mr.  Marsh's  private  labor,  and 
to  religious  reading.  Mr.  Lynde.  who  had  been  mostly 
indifferent  before,  became  very  thoughtful,  indeed,  very 
anxious  regarding  his  spiritual  condition.  His  conviction 
of  sin  was  unusually  deep.  He  could  speak  only  of 
“mountains  of  sin.”  When  received  to  the  Eliot  Church 
1S61  he  stated  in  writing: 

“While  kneeling  before  God  and  praying  for  needed 
grace.  Jesus  Christ  was  manifested  to  my  inner  soul.  I 
looked  unto  Him  the  Crucified,  and  the  black  mountain 
of  mv  sin  disappeared  and  I  felt  the  love  of  God  with 
reace-  Feel  now  that  He  is  ever  near  me:  that  He  is 


346 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


ever  merciful  and  full  of  grace.  Feel  myself  helpless,  and 
must  depend  on  Him.  My  special  desire  is  that  He  may 
increase  my  poor  faith.  The  fourteenth  chapter  of  John 
is  my  favorite  comfort.  I  rejoice  to  be  present  at  sac¬ 
ramental  services;  no  matter  as  to  my  depravity  or  deaf¬ 
ness,  our  Jesus  is  ever  with  us.” 

It  is  gratifying  that  he  should  be  able  to  say,  “  I  do 
not  feel  sad  at  being  deprived  of  the  sense  of  hearing, 
but  grateful  for  saving  grace  through  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.”  While  living  at  West  Roxbury,  for  two  years 
he  walked  to  Boston  on  Sundays  to  conduct  a  meeting 
for  the  mutes,  as  he  had  scruples  about  patronizing  pub¬ 
lic  conveyances  on  that  day.  He  was  a  constant  student 
of  the  Bible,  and  there  were  very  few  passages  to  which 
he  could  not  turn  at  once  without  the  aid  of  a  con¬ 
cordance. 

Mr.  Lynde’s  last  sickness  of  seven  weeks  was  one 
of  suffering,  but  one  of  patient  endurance.  It  was  in  the 
midst  of  repose,  bodily  and  mental,  that  he  fell  asleep  in 
Jesus,  January  14,  1899. 

5.  MRS.  CAROLINE  F.  LYNDE. 

Of  the  four  Christian  sisters  belonging  to  this  class 
two  joined  the  church  on  public  confession  of  their  faith, 
and  one  of  these  was  the  wife  of  our  brother,  Mr.  William 
Lynde.  She  had  been  a  favorite  pupil  at  the  Hartford 
Deaf  and  Dumb  Asylum,  and  was  well  educated.  Her 
style  seldom  betrayed,  as  is  often  the  case,  the  infirmity 
under  which  she  labored.  She  was  a  woman  of  much 


DEAF-MUTES. 


347 


refinement  and  of  very  pleasing  features.  A  severe  sick¬ 
ness  was  blessed  to  her  spiritual  good.  In  applying  for 
admission  to  the  church  she  presented  a  satisfactory 
written  statement,  to  the  effect  that  she  became  so  deeply 
sensible  of  her  guilty  impenitence  as  to  see  the  justice 
of  God  in  everlasting  punishment;  that  prostrating  her¬ 
self  before  the  Lord  Jesus  she  cried  in  spirit,  “  Here  I 
am,  do  with  me  as  thou  wilt.  I  beg  for  mercy.  I  soon 
overflowed  with  joy  and  happiness.  I  felt  that  the  Saviour 
was  near,  and  my  eyes  were  opened  to  see  my  need  of 
Him;  and  how  precious  did  He  become  to  me!  He  is 
my  daily  delight  and  meditation.  I  do  wish  every  one 
in  the  world  to  know  what  a  precious  Saviour  He  is.” 
Her  membership  dates  from  June,  1854. 

After  a  few  years,  pulmonary  consumption  came.  In 
one  of  my  visits  during  that  sickness  I  placed  before  her 
eye  this  verse  from  the  Bible,  “  My  flesh  and  my  heart 
faileth,  but  God  is  the  strength  of  my  heart,  and  my 
portion  forever.”  With  a  feeble  hand  she  wrote  under¬ 
neath,  “Very  beautiful;  I,  too,  found  it  true.”  The  last 
inquiry  of  her  devoted  husband,  in  the  language  of  signs 
was,  “  Do  you  know  me  ?  ”  With  emaciated  fingers  she 
replied,  “I  know  Jesus;”  and  her  eyes  closing,  her  tongue 
was  unloosed  in  another  world,  June  25,  1862. 

6.  MRS.  MARY  COFFIN  LYNDE. 

Alton,  New  Hampshire,  was  the  place,  and  June  6, 
1827,  the  date  of  her  birth.  One  of  her  sisters  married 
Prof.  Benjamin  Stanton  of  Union  College,  and  another 


348 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


sister  married  Rev.  William  W.  Griffis.  Mrs.  Lynde  had 
the  advantage  of  education  at  the  school  in  Hartford, 
Connecticut,  and  became  the  second  wife  of  Mr.  Wil¬ 
liam  Lynde. 

While  yet  a  minor  Mrs.  Lynde  joined  the  Freewill 
Baptist  Church,  of  which  her  father  was  Elder,  but  after¬ 
wards  became  convinced  that  she  had  made  a  mistake, 
and  was  not,  at  the  time,  a  truly  converted  person.  Later 
her  condition  as  a  sinner,  her  utter  need  of  a  Saviour, 
the  atoning  merits  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  offer  of 
free  forgiveness  for  his  sake,  were  apprehended  as  never 
before,  and  in  1864  the  Eliot  Church  received  her  on 
confession  of  faith.  She  became  much  devoted  to  kind, 
neighborly  acts,  to  attendance  upon  the  Bible  Class,  and 
to  various  religious  duties.  The  prayerful  study  of  God’s 
word  was  her  constant  habit.  The  last  sickness  was  one 
of  great  suffering,  but  of  no  complaining.  April  6,  1891, 
brought  release  and  translation,  as  we  believe,  into  the 
world  whence  all  infirmities  are  banished,  and  where  it  is 
always  springtime. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 


NOTEWORTHY  LAYMEN. 

Those  in  some  of  the  aforenamed  classes  were  obvi¬ 
ously  persons  of  note.  The  offices  which  they  held  would 
have  made  them  prominent  if  personal  qualities  did  not. 
But  there  were  so  many  others  —  some  of  them  not  less 
conspicuous  —  that  a  complete  enumeration  and  portraiture 
would  be  inconsistent  with  prescribed  limits.  The  lack 
of  materials  easily  accessible  has  had  much  influence  in 
making  a  selection  ^of  those  to  whom  sketches  are  de¬ 
voted.  Comparative  importance  of  names  has  not  been 
of  decisive  consideration.  Such  men  as  Laban  S.  Beecher, 
Moses  Day,  John  A.  McGaw,  Joseph  Ballister,  John  J. 
Soren,  Otis  Packard,  Asher  Adams,  John  Gulliver,  Robert 
H.  Thayer,  Stephen  J.  Bowles,  E.  Hubbard  Severance, 
Ebenezer  Wheelwright,  Henry  Davenport,  J.  O.  L.  Hillard, 
Charles  F.  Bray,  Benajah  Cross,  Samuel  W.  Hall,  Charles 
Hulbert,  Thomas  Chamberlain,  Nathan  Brown,  William 
Brock,  Benjamin  C.  Tinkham,  are  among  those  who  might 
well  have  been  included. 

I.  DR.  NATHANIEL  SHEPHERD  PRENTISS. 

Was  born  in  Cambridge,  August  7,  1766,  ten  years 
before  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  His  father  was 
one  of  the  seventeen  who  threw  the  obnoxious  tea  into 


35° 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


Boston  Harbor,  the  evidence  of  which,  as  Dr.  Prentiss 
remembered,  was  the  next  morning  apparent  on  the 
old  gentleman’s  boots.  The  judicious  mother  did  not 
then  gratify  the  lad’s  curiosity  by  telling  him  that  what 
he  had  found  was  tea-leaves.  He  saw  the  British  soldiers 
on  their  march  to  Lexington  and  Concord,  and  saw  one 
of  them  on  their  return  shot  down  by  a  neighbor  of  the 
family.  His  mother  took  him  to  the  cellar  to  avoid  shots 
poured  into  the  house  by  the  retreating  foreign  troops. 

The  class  in  Harvard  College  with  which  Dr.  Pren¬ 
tiss  graduated  was  that  of  1787  —  a  class  larger,  with  two 
exceptions,  than  any  which  graduated  at  that  venerable 
institution  till  1797  —  a  class,  no  member  of  which,  he 
once  informed  me,  came  under  censure.  Judge  Putnam, 
Judge  Cranch  of  Washington,  D.  C.,  and  John  Quincy 
Adams  were  his  classmates.  The  last  named  was  born 
in  1767,  and  his  decease  occurred  six  years  before  that 
of  Dr.  Prentiss.  “  The  Old  Man  Eloquent  ”  declared  — 
“  This  is  the  last  of  earth,  I  am  content,”  and  was  gath¬ 
ered  to  his  fathers. 

Dr.  Prentiss  commenced  the  practice  of  medicine  in 
Marlborough,  and  his  professional  life  extended  through 
more  than  half  a  century;  but  in  1801  he  removed  to 
Roxbury  and  took  charge  of  the  Latin  School.  That 
school  having  been  founded  in  1645,  he  was  the  seven 
hundred  and  sixty-second  teacher.  He  continued  in 
charge  with  acceptance  for  eight  years,  and  then  con¬ 
ducted  a  private  school  for  several  years.  The  visit  paid 


NOTEWORTHY  LAYMEN. 


351 


him  late  in  life  by  many  of  his  surviving  pupils,  and  the 
elegant  testimonial  of  their  respect  presented  on  the  occa¬ 
sion,  were  alike  honorable  to  them  and  to  him.  One  of 
the  pupils  whom  he  trained  and  assisted,  and  to  whom 
he  became  strongly  attached,  was  Samuel  Newell,  then 
an  orphan  boy,  whom  Judge  Lowell,  grandfather  of  the 
late  James  Russell  Lowell,  befriended.  Newell  was  the 
first  graduate  of  Harvard  whom  the  American  Board 
sent  out  as  a  missionary.  Before  embarking  for  India 
(1812),  he  came  to  take  leave  of  his  beloved  preceptor, 
and  owing  to  a  misstep,  he  left  a  footprint  on  the  freshly- 
painted  floor,  which  the  Doctor  would  never  allow  to  be 
obliterated,  though,  prior  to  removing  from  that  house,  he 
had  the  paint  renewed  more  than  once. 

Dr.  Prentiss’  services  to  the  town  of  Roxbury  ex¬ 
tended  through  a  long  period.  Various  offices  were  en¬ 
trusted  to  him,  such  as  that  of  representative  to  the  Gen¬ 
eral  Court  for  a  series  of  years,  and  that  of  Town 
Clerk  for  about  thirty  years.  Having  reached  four-score 
when  the  municipal  form  of  government  was  adopted,  he 
retired  from  further  public  service.  In  all  the  positions 
held  by  him  he  was  pronounced  highly  urbane  and  oblig¬ 
ing  towards  associates;  and  in  his  transactions  eminently 
accurate,  prompt  and  faithful. 

In  religious  views  and  character  Dr.  Prentiss  was  a 
Calvinist,  holding  with  earnestness  to  the  Abrahamic  cov¬ 
enant  and  to  Orthodox  Congregational  usages,  yet  with 
sympathies  broad  and  warm  toward  all  evangelical 


352 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


Christians.  In  the  establishment  of  the  first  Baptist 
Church  in  Roxbury,  which  antedated  the  Eliot  Church, 
he  was  deeply  interested,  contributing  efficient  influence 
and  pecuniary  aid,  and  to  the  last  continuing  to  rejoice 
in  its  growth.  His  name  stands  first  on  the  list  of  those 
organized  into  the  Eliot  Church,  over  whose  inception 
and  growth  he  watched,  and  prayed,  and  wept  in  exulting 
gratitude  to  the  King  of  Zion. 

Never  did  I  feel  more  surprised  than  when,  early 
in  my  ministry,  he,  a  white-headed  patriarch,  used  to 
speak  of  being  comforted  and  edified  by  my  ministra¬ 
tions.  In  his  presence  I  always  felt  like  a  tyro  who  was 
enjoying  the  special  privilege  of  instruction  from  a  wise 
master.  In  one  instance,  during  a  protracted  and  severe 
sickness  —  from  which  there  was  for  some  time  no  hope 
of  recovery  —  as  I  was  sitting  by  his  bedside  after  con¬ 
valescence  had  commenced,  he  said,  “  If  it  should  please 
God  to  spare  me,  and  raise  me  up,  and  permit  me  to  go 
to  his  house,  I  would  give  more  to  hear  a  good  gospel 
sermon  than  for  ten  thousand  worlds.” 

His  later  years  were  years  of  singular  serenity, 
soothed  and  cheered  by  the  ministrations  of  devoted 
daughters.  Seldom  has  any  one  of  equal  age  retained 
such  freshness  of  bodily  senses  and  faculties  of  the  mind. 
The  vita  vere  vitalis  was  in  full  vigor.  Faith,  hope  and 
charity  were  stronger  than  ever.  His  vital  union  to  Him 
who  is  the  Vine  became  a  point  of  triumphant  assur¬ 
ance.  His  last  whispered  words,  as  an  affectionate  sister 


NOTEWORTHY  LAYMEN. 


353 


wiped  the  tear  from  his  eye,  were,  pointing  upward  — 
“No  tears  there !  ”  and  his  last  conscious  act,  after  the 
power  of  speech  had  ceased,  was  to  lay  one  finger  across 
another  in  token  of  the  cross  of  Christ,  in  which  he 
gloried  to  the  last.  Dear  old  man  !  Never  did  a  more 
earnest  listener  sit  in  the  sanctuary.  That  hoary  head 
borne  erect  in  commanding  dignity,  that  noble  counte¬ 
nance  which  shone  as  it  had  been  the  face  of  an  angel, 
are  still  as  distinct  in  memory  as  they  were  half  a 
century  ago. 

2.  JOHN  HEATH. 

The  name  Heath  has  been  a  prominent  one  in  Rox- 
bury  from  the  earliest  times.  Isaac  Heath  came  by  the 
“  Hopewell  ”  in  1635,  took  the  freeman’s  oath  the  next 
year,  and  one  year  later  was  elected  a  representative  of 
the  town  in  the  legislature.  About  the  same  time  he  was 
chosen  a  Ruling  Elder  of  the  church,  which  indicated 
that  he  was  regarded  as  a  man  of  decidedly  Christian 
character,  as  well  as  of  superior  prudence  and  wisdom. 
That  office,  in  which  he  continued  during  life,  brought 
him  into  intimate  relations  with  John  Eliot.  He  was  a 
man  of  means  and  was  one  of  the  founders  of  that  Rox- 
bury  school  which,  at  that  time,  furnished,  it  was  said, 
more  scholars  for  the  college  than  any  other  town  of  the 
size  in  New  England,  and  to  which  he  made  a  handsome 
bequest.  He  assisted  Eliot  in  his  work  among  the  Indians 
and  appears  to  have  had  some  knowledge  of  their  lan¬ 
guage.  For  more  than  four  years  he  gave  a  home  to 


354 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


an  Indian  lad.  Elder  Heath  died  January  21,  1660,  aged 
seventy-five.1 

In  a  collateral  line  was  the  well-known  Gen.  William 
Heath,  a  prominent  citizen  and  a  prominent  officer  in  the 
struggles  of  the  Revolution.  He  was  born  the  seventh 
of  March,  1737;  lived  on  the  same  farm  where  his  an¬ 
cestor  settled  in  1636;  and  in  the  year  1814,  when  he 
died,  had  outlived  all  the  other  major-generals  of  the 
Revolutionary  army.  He  had  been  a  representative  in 
the  General  Court,  and  in  the  Provincial  Congress.  His 
“ Memoirs  of  Major-General  Heath,  co7itaining  anecdotes, 
details  of  skirmishes,  battles,  a7id  other  military  eve7its  dur- 
hig  the  America7i  war,  writte7i  by  himself  j  is  a  book  of 
388  pages,  published  1798. 

John  Heath  was  one  of  the  six  original  members  of 
the  Eliot  Church  who,  at  the  time  of  its  organization, 
made,  for  the  first  time,  public  profession  of  the  Christian 
faith.  He  had  previously  attended  the  Old  South  Church, 
in  Boston.  He  was  a  man  of  extreme  diffidence,  so  much 
so  that  he  could  never  take  active  part  in  social  religious 
meetings.  He  did  not,  however,  belong  to  that  class  who 
are  silent  at  devotional  meetings  but  voluble  when  secu¬ 
lar  business  is  on  hand.  His  habits  of  punctuality  and 
general  regularity  in  attendance  upon  divine  worship  and 
in  fulfilling  all  engagements,  were  observable.  Being  for 
some  years  treasurer  of  the  ecclesiastical  society,  he  came 
to  my  house  invariably  on  quarter-day  to  pay  an  install- 


1  See  Lives  of  Isaac  Heath  and  John  Bowles,  by  J.  Wingate  Thornton. 


NOTEWORTHY  LAYMEN. 


355 


ment  of  the  salary.  Having  breakfasted  himself  by  lamp¬ 
light,  he  made  his  appearance  at  the  parsonage  before  the 
morning  meal  there. 

In  manners  and  habits  Mr.  Heath  was  characterized 
by  simplicity,  by  unobtrusiveness,  and  blamelessness.  He 
gave  none  offence,  called  forth  no  criticism,  and  was  much 
respected.  In  the  sanctuary  he  was  a  specially  earnest 
and  intelligent  listener,  and  had  well-defined  religious 
views.  The  distinguishing  truths  of  evangelical  Chris¬ 
tianity  were  meat  and  drink  to  him.  During  the  later 
years  of  life  he  lived  in  Brookline,  but  continued  to  wor¬ 
ship  every  Lord’s  Day  at  the  Eliot  Church,  always  walk¬ 
ing  from  and  to  his  house.  On  a  Sabbath  morning,  Janu¬ 
ary  8,  1850,  just  as  he  was  about  to  leave  home  for  public 
worship,  he  fell  instantly  at  the  door  and  never  became 
again  conscious.  During  the  whole  seventy  years  of  life 
he  had  not  called  a  physician.  Seldom  does  anyone  find 
his  way  so  suddenly  to  the  temple  on  high  instead  of 
the  house  of  God  here  below. 

3.  MELZAR  WATERMAN. 

Mr.  Waterman,  one  of  the  original  members,  and  one 
of  the  committee  which  drafted  the  Articles  of  Faith  and 
the  Covenant,  was  the  Asaph  of  those  days,  a  devout  man 
who  led  the  service  of  song  in  the  house  of  the  Lord. 
This  he  did  for  several  years  with  acceptance  to  all. 
Halifax,  Plymouth  County,  was  his  native  place,  January 
9,  1795.  An  early  immigrant  ancestor  was  Robert  Water- 


356 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


man,  from  Devonshire,  England,  first  at  Salem,  then  at 
Plymouth,  and  afterwards  at  Marshfield,  a  man  of  local 
prominence  in  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century. 
John,  a  son  of  Robert  (born,  1642;  died,  1718),  was  one 
of  the  first  deacons  of  the  church  in  Halifax.  The  suc¬ 
cessive  generations  were  characterized  by  amiability  and 
good  habits. 

In  early  life  Mr.  Waterman  inclined  to  Universalism, 
but  Bible  study  and  a  change  of  heart  corrected  that.  A 
special  blessing,  as  is  so  often  the  case,  attended  the 
influence  of  a  pious  mother  and  sister.  Under  clear  con¬ 
viction  of  sin,  looking  to  Jesus  the  all-sufficient  Saviour, 
he  found  needed  relief.  Faithful  inner  scrutiny  was  main¬ 
tained.  The  manuscript  record  of  religious  experiences 
and  purposes,  definite  and  decided,  as  early  as  1813,  which 
at  a  later  period  was  reviewed  and  renewed,  indicates  an 
unusually  intelligent  experimental  acquaintance  with  divine 
things.  Till  the  end  of  his  days  Mr.  Waterman  was  a 
serious,  cheerful  Christian.  In  the  congregation  there 
were  few,  if  any,  more  earnest  hearers  of  the  Word 
preached.  December  29,  1833,  he  began  a  record  of 
the  texts  from  which  sermons  were  preached.  This 
continued  with  regularity  till  the  spring  of  1842.  An 
occasional  abstract  of  a  sermon  is  introduced,  and  a 
book  of  about  two  hundred  pages  was  thus  filled. 

One  incident  will  indicate  local  relations  between 
members  of  different  denominations  at  that  period.  In 
1827  there  was  formed  “The  Male  Primary  Missionary 


NOTEWORTHY  LAYMEN. 


357 


Society  of  the  Baptist  Church  in  Roxbury.”  It  was 
originally  composed  of  nearly  fifty  members,  who  con¬ 
tributed  annually  not  less  than  one  dollar  each.  Four  or 
more  of  those  men  were  Congregationalists,  who  after¬ 
wards  worshiped  at  the  Eliot  Church.  The  officers  were 
from  the  Baptist  Church,  but  Mr.  Waterman  was  one  of 
the  four  collectors. 

Most  of  his  children  having  settled  in  New  Orleans, 
or  elsewhere  in  Louisiana,  he  spent  his  last  days  with 
them,  and  in  old  age,  still  bent  on  usefulness,  he  gathered 
a  Sunday  School,  which  resulted  in  the  formation  of  a 
church.  But  upon  his  decease  the  remains  were  brought 
back  for  interment  in  the  Forest  Hills  Cemetery,  and  the 
funeral  was  attended  January  29,  1868. 

4.  RICHARD  BOND. 

The  son  of  pious  parents,  and  born  in  Conway, 
Massachusetts,  the  year  that  Washington  retired  from 
public  life  (1797).  He  came  to  Boston,  and  for  years  was 
one  of  the  leading  architects  in  the  city.  His  removal  to 
Roxbury  took  place  some  months  before  the  organization 
of  our  church,  of  which  he  was  an  original  member,  and 
for  thirty  years  prominent  in  all  its  affairs.  His  con¬ 
version  occurred  during  a  revival  in  Boston,  when  he 
became  deeply  impressed  with  a  sense  of  his  sin  and  folly 
in  toiling  at  worldly  business  with  only  a  dark  future 
before  him.  His  views  on  religious  subjects,  which 
received  their  form  from  the  Assembly’s  Shorter  Cate- 


35« 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


chism,  were  unusually  clear  and  decided ;  his  remarks 
and  devotional  exercises  at  social  religious  meetings  were 
very  impressive.  He  took  a  class  in  the  Eliot  Sunday 
School  when  it  opened  (1834),  and  not  long  after  suc¬ 
ceeded  Dr.  Alcott  as  leader  of  a  large  Bible  Class.  Care¬ 
ful  preparation,  unfailing  punctuality  and  fidelity  year 
after  year  characterized  him  as  a  teacher,  and  indeed 
throughout  various  other  relations.  Mr.  Bond  was  in 
the  habit  of  contributing,  with  discrimination,  to  religious 
objects.  He  founded  the  Turretin  prize  of  one  thousand 
dollars  in  what  is  now  the  Hartford  Theological  Seminary, 
and  bequeathed  a  handsome  amount  to  several  of  our 
best  New  England  institutions  of  learning.  In  August, 
1861,  Mr.  Bond  was  gathered  to  his  fathers. 

5.  JOHN  NEWTON  DENISON. 

Mr.  Denison  joined  this  church  twice,  first  in  1839 
and  again  in  1847.  It  was  with  much  regret  that  in  each 
instance  we  parted  with  him  and  his  family.  He  was 
the  only  child  of  a  minister,  the  Rev.  John  Denison,  of 
Jericho,  Vermont,  where  he  was  born  June  22,  1811. 
With  the  exception  of  Mr.  Isaac  D.  White,  he  was,  at  the 
time  of  his  decease,  the  oldest  living  representative  of 
our  brotherhood  in  its  early  days.  He  belonged  to  the 
seventh  generation  from  an  original  settler  in  Roxbury,  a 
family  in  which  there  has  been  a  good  deal  of  longevity. 
His  grandfather,  Samuel  Denison,  reached  the  age  of  94, 
and  the  grandfather  of  Samuel,  Col.  Robert  Denison,  of 


NOTEWORTHY  LAYMEN. 


359 


Montville,  Connecticut,  attained  the  same  age;  while  the 
grandmother  of  Colonel  Robert  came  within  a  year  of 
living  a  century.  She  was  a  queenly  woman,  and  was 
always  called  “  Lady  Ann,”  the  wife  of  Capt.  George 
Denison.  He,  after  the  death  of  his  first  wife,  Bridget 
Thompson,  went  back  to  England,  served  under  Crom¬ 
well  in  the  army  of  Parliament ;  was  wounded  in  the 
famous  battle  of  Marston  Moor;  was  nursed  at  the  house 
of  John  Borowdell,  by  his  daughter  Ann,  whom  he  mar¬ 
ried,  and  returning  to  New  England,  settled  finally  at 
Stonington,  Connecticut.  In  military  affairs  he  was  second 
to  no  one  in  that  colony  at  that  period,  unless  it  be 
Capt.  John  Mason.  This  George  was  the  youngest  of 
three  sons  of  William  Denison,  who  came  with  his  family 
from  Bishop’s  Stortford,  Herefordshire,  England.  They 
were  fellow-passengers  of  John  Eliot,  who  had  been  an 
usher  in  the  school  of  the  celebrated  Thomas  Hooker, 
and  who  served  for  a  time  as  tutor  to  these  Denison  sons. 
William  Denison,  the  father,  a  graduate,  like  Eliot,  of 
Cambridge  University,  England,  brought  with  him  “a 
good  estate.”  He  became  a  deacon  in  the  First  Church 
of  Roxbury,  and  died  in  1653,  the  year  that  Eliot 
addressed  his  tract,  Tears  of  Repentance ,  to  Oliver 
Cromwell. 

The  house  built  by  William  Denison  was  on  what 
is  now  Shawmut  Avenue,  about  opposite  to  the  head  of 
Eustis  Street.  Our  Mr.  John  N.  Denison  gave  himself, 
for  a  time  in  early  life,  to  teaching,  and  contemplated  de- 


36  o 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


voting  himself  to  study.  On  account,  however,  of  a  per¬ 
sistent  trouble  in  the  head,  he  was  obliged  to  relinquish 
both  pursuits.  Coming  to  Boston,  he  went  into  the  dry- 
goods  business;  but  withdrew  (1856)  and,  with  a  brother- 
in-law,  Mr.  J.  W.  Brooks,  enlisted  in  railroad  affairs,  the 
Burlington  and  Missouri  River  road,  the  Chicago,  Bur¬ 
lington  and  Quincy  road,  and  sundry  associated  corpo¬ 
rations. 

For  a  whole  generation  Mr.  Denison  was  the  senior 
officer  of  the  Central  Church,  and  one  of  its  most  liberal 
benefactors,  commanding  the  deepest  respect  of  all,  his 
liberality  exceeded  only  by  his  modesty,  for  his  almsdeeds 
are  fully  recorded  nowhere  except  where  those  of  Cor¬ 
nelius  are  found. 

6.  ISAAC  DAVIS  WHITE. 

Of  the  earlier  members  of  the  Eliot  Church,  Mr. 
White  is  the  oldest  now  living  and  is  in  his  ninety-fifth 
year.  He  was  born  in  Boylston,  Massachusetts,  March 
20,  1806,  though  his  father  was  a  native  of  Roxbury,  a 
prominent  man  in  town  affairs,  for  several  years  a  repre¬ 
sentative  in  the  General  Court,  and,  what  is  more  im¬ 
portant,  possessed  a  strong  religious  character.  The  same 
was  true  of  the  mother  of  our  Mr.  White  —  a  daughter 
of  Rev.  Joseph  Avery,  for  fifty  years  pastor  of  the  church 
in  Holden.  It  was  an  unusual  circumstance  that  when 
she  died  (i860)  at  the  age  of  eighty-two,  her  ten  children 
were  all  living.  The  only  sister  of  Samuel  Adams  was  a 
great-grandmother  of  our  Mr.  White.  Of  those  ten  chil- 


NOTEWORTHY  LAYMEN. 


361 


dren  referred  to  —  four  being  still  alive  —  the  average  age 
is  eighty-three  years ;  while  three  have  lived  beyond 
ninety-two.  Sixty-six  was  the  lowest  age  attained,  and 
among  all  of  them  the  retention  of  their  faculties  has 
been  marked. 

Mr.  White  removed  to  Enfield,  Connecticut,  in  1853; 
and  after  a  ten  years’  residence  there  returned  to  Boston, 
but  settled  at  length  in  Brookline  (1865).  Whatever 
changes  have  taken  place  in  personal  or  in  public  affairs, 
he  has  maintained  even  and  quiet  habits  of  feeling  and 
of  outward  life,  always  declining  office  when  proposed  to 
him.  The  passionate  and  the  petulant  very  seldom  reach 
ninety  years  of  age.  The  art  of  passing  lightly  over  the 
rough  places  of  life  is  an  enviable  one,  and  one  that  pro¬ 
motes  longevity.  It  was  in  1840  that  he  joined  the  Eliot 
Church,  and  his  religious  profession  has  been  consist¬ 
ently  maintained.  Two  lines  of  Christian  ancestry,  run¬ 
ning  back  between  two  and  three  hundred  years,  con¬ 
verge  in  him.  The  divine  pledge  holds  good,  “  Showing 
mercy  unto  thousands  of  them  that  love  me  and  keep  my 
commandments.” 


7.  JOHN  BROWN. 

Never  can  I  forget  the  last  sickness  and  some  of 
the  closing  scenes  in  a  family  which  came  from  Scotland. 
They  lived  in  a  small  house  on  the  milldam,  remote  from 
church,  but  so  long  as  circumstances  permitted,  they  were 
punctual  and  reverent  worshipers  at  the  house  of  God, 
whatever  the  walking  or  the  weather.  The  husband  and 


36  2 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


father,  John  Brown,  sank  (1846)  under  the  gradual  in¬ 
vasion  of  a  disease  that  baffled  all  resistance ;  but  it  was 
in  such  patience  and  cheerfulness  as  are  exhibited  only 
where  there  is  intimate  fellowship  with  heaven.  His 
thoughts  wandered  chiefly  along  the  river  of  the  water 
of  life  and  also  beyond  sea  in  his  native  land.  He  lived 
over  his  early  life  again,  and  sang  over  and  over  hymns 
taught  him  by  a  godly  Highland  mother.  At  last  he 
wished  to  have  the  Scottish  friends  —  who  were  kindly 
attentive  through  the  whole  sickness,  and  some  of  whom 
then  stood  round  the  bed  —  join  in  a  favorite  paraphrase. 
It  was  one  which  that  sainted  woman  used  to  sing  to 
him  in  his  childhood.  His  own  feeble  voice  joined  with 
theirs  till  the  last  word  and  last  note.  With  that  he 
ceased  to  breathe ;  but  I  have  no  doubt  that  in  another 
world  he  kept  right  on  singing,  only  changing  to  the 
song  of  Moses,  the  servant  of  God,  and  the  song  of  the 
Lamb.  The  one  which  he  had  just  finished  here  was  this: 

“  Hark,  the  glad  sound !  the  Saviour  comes, 

The  Saviour  promised  long ; 

Let  every  heart  prepare  him  room, 

And  every  voice  a  song.” 

The  widow  and  daughter  soon  went  back  to  Aber¬ 
deen,  Scotland,  where  their  friends  were  living. 

8.  DEACON  JAMES  CLAP. 

Few  churches  have  ever  had  among  their  members 
one  more  humble,  more  prayerful,  or  more  conscientiously 
faithful  in  all  his  relations,  than  James  Clap.  Nearly  the 


NOTEWORTHY  LAYMEN. 


363 


whole  of  his  seventy  years  bore  witness  to  those  eminent 
traits,  for  his  religious  life  began  much  earlier  than  is 
usual.  He  was  born  in  Dorchester,  and  while  yet  a 
youth  was  the  first  male  member  received  by  the  Second 
Church,  under  the  ministry  of  the  first  pastor,  Dr.  John 
Codman.  Owing  to  changes  of  residence,  he  joined  suc¬ 
cessively  the  Old  South  and  Pine  Street  churches,  Bos¬ 
ton,  and  the  Village  Church,  Dorchester.  Thence  he 
brought  usual  credentials  to  the  Eliot  Church  in  1836 ; 
but  he  brought  an  unusually  quiet,  consistent,  earnest 
Christian  character.  He  was  a  peacemaker.  It  was  also 
his  practice,  much  beyond  what  is  generally  the  custom, 
to  introduce  religious  conversation  and  to  speak  to  im¬ 
penitent  business  men,  as  well  as  others,  on  the  subject 
of  personal  salvation.  Growth  in  grace  in  himself  and 
the  spiritual  good  of  others  seemed  to  be  his  sole  desire. 
The  year  1829  was  one  of  great  financial  embarrassment. 
Failures  were  frequent.  A  friend,  on  entering  Mr.  Clap’s 
counting-room  one  morning,  announced  that  a  certain 
business  man,  who  was  owing  the  firm  a  considerable 
amount,  had  gone  under.  Mr..  Clap  knew  that  that  in¬ 
volved  disaster  to  himself;  but  instead  of  any  expressions 
of  grief,  he  remarked  calmly :  “  This  is  perhaps  in  answer 
to  my  prayer.  I  have  been  praying  for  greater  sanctifica¬ 
tion,  and  God  may  be  taking  this  method  to  effect  the 
object.” 

He  never  resumed  business,  but  became  bookkeeper 
on  a  moderate  salary.  His  manner  of  living  being  ex- 


36  4 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


tremely  simple  and  inexpensive,  he  was  able  to  contribute 
to  benevolent  objects  amounts  that  were  very  suggestive 
to  those  who  had  larger  incomes  but  who  gave  much 
less.  To  the  American  Board  and  the  Home  Missionary 
Society,  he  paid  each  not  less  than  one  hundred  and 
seventy  dollars  annually  ;  and  when  a  special  appeal  was 
heard,  he  would  present  a  special  thank-offering.  Mrs. 
Clap,  a  sister  of  Mrs.  Dr.  R.  S.  Storrs  of  Braintree,  was 
in  full  sympathy  with  her  husband. 

Health  failing,  he  removed  to  his  native  place;  and 
the  first  Lord’s  Day  of  July,  1857,  was  the  last  time  that 
he  attended  public  worship.  The  remainder  of  his  life, 
two  and  a  half  years,  was  a  period  of  almost  uninterrupted 
suffering  —  much  of  the  time  severe  suffering  —  night 
and  day.  It  was,  however,  a  period  of  meek  resignation 
and  uncomplaining  endurance. 

In  an  address  at  the  funeral  of  Mr.  Clap,  March  30, 
i860,  the  writer  took  occasion  to  say:  “Why  is  it  that 
such  a  man  should  have  been  subjected  to  such  a  dis¬ 
cipline?  God  no  doubt  had  many  ends  in  view,  and  one 
may  have  been  to  teach  us  that  this  is  not  a  retributive 
state.  If  called  upon  to  select  in  the  wide  circle  of  our 
acquaintance,  one  who  from  boyhood  upward  has  been 
blameless,  of  transparent  integrity,  scrupulously  con¬ 
scientious,  truthful,  guileless  and  devout,  would  our 
thoughts  turn  to  any  one  sooner  than  to  him  whose  re¬ 
mains  are  before  us  ?  Now  while  the  dishonest  man,  the 
profane  man,  the  Sabbath  breaker  of  this  community  has 


NOTEWORTHY  LAYMEN. 


365 


lived  in  comparative  exemption  from  trials,  upon  what 
principle  of  equity  was  such  prolonged  suffering  ap¬ 
pointed,  if  in  this  life  demerit  meets  with  a  full  relative 
penalty  ?  ” 

“  Again,  that  last  sickness  was  to  him  a  season  of 
much  spiritual  enjoyment,  and  through  him  of  much 
spiritual  refreshment  to  Christian  brethren  who  came 
week  after  week  to  his  bedside.  Yes,  within  that  coffin 
is  a  bound  volume  of  ‘  Songs  in  the  Night,’  a  gentle  visi¬ 
tor  to  the  sick  and  suffering,  such  as  no  hand  this  side 
of  Heaven  could  prepare  and  send  forth  through  the  com¬ 
munity.  It  is  a  wide  area  around  us  on  which  the  feeble 
and  the  distressed  have  now  for  years  been  taught  lessons 
of  uncomplaining  endurance,  by  him  who  though  dead 
yet  speaketh,  and  will  speak  to  us  for  years  to  come. 
You,  my  dear  brother  (Rev.  Dr.  J.  H.  Means),  in  the  min¬ 
istry  of  reconciliation  and  consolation,  have  had  a  col¬ 
league  such  as  few  pastors  are  favored  with.  Your  ver¬ 
bal  testimony  to  the  sustaining  grace  of  God  has  been 
fortified  by  a  living  testimony  which  none  can  gainsay 
or  resist.  In  the  regions  round  about,  we  have  learned 
as  never  before  to 

‘  Know  how  sublime  a  thing  it  is 
To  suffer  and  be  strong.’ 

“One  invalid  in  a  neighboring  city,  more  than  ninety 
years  old,  when  told  of  the  event  that  brings  us  here  to¬ 
day,  lifted  up  her  feeble  voice  in  the  exclamation  :  ‘  He 
has  suffered  well,  and  now  he  has  gone  where  he  will  re¬ 
joice  well.’  ” 


366 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


•  9.  GEORGE  DOMETT. 

He  had  reached  four-score,  though  we  should  not 
have  thought  it.  Cheerfulness  of  spirit  and  countenance 
beguiled  the  advance  of  years,  and  we  looked  upon  him 
as  a  youthful  old  man.  Out  of  the  whole  population  of 
our  world  it  is  estimated  that  only  one  in  five  hundred 
reach  that  age,  and  it  takes  but  twenty-four  such  lives  to 
measure  the  entire  period  since  our  Lord  was  on  earth. 

The  last  conversation  that  I  had  with  Mr.  Domett 
turned  chiefly  upon  the  subject  of  sudden  deaths.  There 
was  nothing  premonitory  in  that,  yet  it  could  not  be 
otherwise  than  impressive  that  the  very  next  thing  which 
I  heard  regarding  him  should  be,  “  He  died  suddenly.” 
Martin  Luther  was  talking  on  the  same  topic  one  even¬ 
ing,  and  before  the  next  day  he  died.  So,  too,  Julius 
Csesar  discoursed  about  it  the  night  before  he  fell  in 
the  Senate  House.  When  there  is  due  preparation  for 
the  event,  why  should  it  not  be  accounted  a  mercy  that 
this  can  be  said,  “He  was  not,  for  God  took  him?”  Mr. 
Domett  had  been  about  the  house  as  usual  during  the 
day,  was  sitting  in  his  chair,  turned  his  head  on  one  side 
and  ceased  breathing.  His  end  was  peace ;  it  was  a  com¬ 
fortable  event;  he  simply  left  us,  and  nothing  in  his  life 
was  more  beautiful  than  its  close.  Jewish  Rabbis  used 
to  teach  that  the  angel  Gabriel  comes  and  gently  draws 
out  the  soul  of  a  righteous  man  with  a  kiss.  In  this 
instance  it  was  at  evening,  and  being  a  little  earlier  than 
the  usual  hour  for  retiring,  the  venerable  man  omitted 


NOTEWORTHY  LAYMEN. 


367 


saying  good-night.  How  sweet  the  name  that  Christ 
gives  to  the  death  of  such  an  one,  “  Our  friend  Lazarus 
sleepeth !  ” 

It  was  on  Saturday  evening  that  this,  our  friend,  fell 
asleep  —  the  evening  of  preparation  for  the  holy  Sabbath. 
What  a  different  morning  was  his  from  ours  who  were 
tarrying  here  in  the  midwinter  of  sin,  suffering,  and  doubt ! 
Our  friend  believed  in  the  all-sufficient,  atoning  work  of 
Jesus  Christ;  in  our  Lord’s  resurrection,  the  sealing  event 
that  is  commended  for  a  joyful  celebration  by  every  re¬ 
turning  Lord’s  Day.  He  believed  in  regeneration  by  the 
Holy  Spirit,  evinced  in  the  putting  on  of  the  new  man 
which,  after  God,  is  created  in  righteousness  and  true 
holiness.  As  he  believed,  so  he  prayed,  professed,  and 
died. 

IO.  ABNER  KINGMAN. 

Henry  Kingman,  who  came  to  this  country  from  Eng¬ 
land  in  1630,  settled  at  Weymouth,  Massachusetts,  and 
was  a  representative  in  the  General  Court  or  Assembly 
for  fourteen  consecutive  years.  A  great-grandson  of  his, 
Col.  Abner  Kingman,  was  one  of  the  Minutemen  in  the 
Revolutionary  War.  His  grandson,  our  friend  —  the  third 
who  bore  the  same  name  —  was  born  in  Providence,  Rhode 
Island,  February  5,  1814.  The  Kingmans  were  of  the 
Puritan  stock,  decidedly  religious,  conservative,  and  much 
respected.  Mr.  Kingman’s  father  was  a  deacon  in  the 
church  at  Providence  for  many  years  before  removing  to 
Boston.  This  son,  in  the  days  of  youth  and  early  man- 


368 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


hood,  before  the  commencement  of  a  Christian  course, 
maintained,  in  the  midst  of  temptations,  a  correct  life 
outwardly,  shunning  the  theater  and  given  to  reading  and 
to  attending  lectures.  The  books  which  attracted  him  were 
for  the  most  part  valuable,  and  it  was  his  habit  to  make 
written  abstracts  of  the  same. 

It  was  not  till  twenty-seven  years  of  age  that,  after 
much  deliberation,  Mr.  Kingman  made  public  profession 
of  religion,  and  became  a  member  of  the  Essex  Street 
Church,  with  which  he  remained  about  forty  years  till  his 
death.  In  the  meantime  he  had  quarters  in  Roxbury  for 
a  period,  and  worshiped  with  the  Eliot  Church.  In  the 
matter  of  business  he  had  a  long  apprenticeship  that  was 
not  entirely  satisfactory;  but  at  length  becoming  a  mem¬ 
ber  of  the  firm  of  Gossler  &  Co.,  he  met  with  success. 
For  a  quarter  of  a  century  he  was  known  as  a  man  of 
energy,  of  rare  business  sagacity,  and  of  unbending  integ¬ 
rity.  After  his  retirement  from  the  house  of  Gossler  & 
Co.  they  named  the  only  ship  ever  owned  by  them  during 
their  century  and  a-half  of  business,  the  Kingman ,  as  a 
token  of  esteem  for  their  late  partner. 

The  home  life  of  Mr.  Kingman  afforded  a  beautiful 
specimen  of  warm  affection,  Christian  training,  and  domes¬ 
tic  harmony.  Ostentation  had  no  place  there ;  religious 
hospitality  abounded.  He  was  not  a  man  of  many  words 
nor  of  any  pretention.  In  numerous  public  benevolences 
and  philanthropic  institutions  he  had  an  interest  and  ad¬ 
ministrative  position,  such  as  the  Young  Women’s  Chris- 


NOTEWORTHY  LAYMEN. 


369 


tian  Association,  the  Children’s  Aid  Society,  the  Boston 
Dispensary,  the  West  Newton  Boys’  Home,  the  Dedham 
Asylum  for  discharged  female  prisoners,  the  Provident 
Institution  for  Savings.  For  fifteen  years  he  was  a  mem¬ 
ber  of  the  Prudential  Committee  of  the  American  Board ; 
for  thirty-two  years  he  was  on  the  board  of  managers  of 
the  Seamen’s  Friend  Society;  he  was  also  a  trustee  of 
Liberia  College,  of  Beirut  College,  of  Oahu  College, 
of  Wellesley  College,  of  Bradford  Academy,  and  of  the 
Female  Seminary  at  Oxford,  Ohio.  In  his  abundant  char¬ 
ities  he  was  the  farthest  possible  from  everything  like 
show.  The  left  hand  was  kept  in  ignorance  of  what  the 
right  hand  did.  I  was  often  made  the  medium  of  gifts 
which  were  to  be  communicated  without  the  donor’s  name. 
Failing  health  marked  the  closing  years  of  Mr.  Kingman’s 
life.  Angina  pectoris  was  the  malady  which  preyed  upon 
him,  and  after  repeated  paroxysms  of  extreme  suffering 
he  had  a  blessed  release,  November  1,  1880.  His  last 
effort  at  continuous  utterance  was  the  barely  audible  re¬ 
hearsal  of  one  stanza  of  a  favorite  hymn: 

“  I  love  thy  kingdom,  Lord, 

The  house  of  thine  abode, 

The  church  our  blest  Redeemer  saved 
With  his  own  precious  blood.” 


II.  HON.  JOSEPH  S.  ROPES. 

Boston  claims  Mr.  Ropes  as  one  of  her  sons.  He 
was  born  February  6,  1818,  Mr.  William  Ropes  and  Mrs. 
Martha  Reed  Ropes  being  his  parents.  After  attending 


37° 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


Gideon  F.  Thayer’s  school  Mr.  Ropes  studied  at  the 
St.  Petersburg  Gymnasium  and  University,  his  father  hav¬ 
ing  removed  to  that  city.  Besides  the  two  ancient  clas¬ 
sical  languages,  Latin  and  Greek,  he  became  familiar  with 
the  modern  Russian,  German,  French  and  Spanish. 

From  1845  to  1875  he  was  a  member  of  the  firm  of 
William  Ropes  &  Co.,  which  had  mercantile  houses  at 
St.  Petersburg,  London,  New  York  and  Boston;  and  he 
made  numerous  trips  to  Europe  and  back.  Among  the 
positions  of  trust  held  by  him  were  presidency  of  the 
Congregational  Club,  membership  in  the  Boston  Board 
of  Trade,  the  Free  Trade  League,  and  Prudential  Com¬ 
mittee  of  the  American  Board,  the  latter  for  a  term  of 
twenty-four  years.  Products  of  his  pen  have  appeared  in 
contributions  to  various  periodicals,  especially  the  Con¬ 
gregational  Quarterly,  the  New  Englander,  and  the  Bibli¬ 
otheca  Sacra. 

Mr.  Ropes,  like  Mr.  Abner  Kingman,  though  a  member 
of  the  Union  Church,  Boston,  removed  to  Roxbury  and 
worshiped  a  while  with  us;  but  when  the  Vine  Street 
(now  Immanuel)  Church  was  formed,  he  cast  in  his  lot 
as  one  of  its  original  members.  In  that  he  held  the  office 
of  Deacon,  and  for  many  years  conducted  a  large  Bible 
Class  of  ladies.  A  quick  sense  of  right  and  of  honor, 
the  absence  of  self-assertion,  and  the  presence  of  unusual 
refinement,  are  well-known  characteristics  in  Mr.  Ropes. 
One  evidence  of  his  remarkable  memory  is  the  fact  that 
it  carries  over  seven  hundred  hymns. 


NOTEWORTHY  LAYMEN. 


371 


1 2.  SYLVESTER  BLISS. 

The  Eliot  Sunday  School  has  been  greatly  favored 
in  its  superintendents.  After  the  quarter  of  a  century 
services  of  Deacon  Alvah  Kittredge,  came  a  brief  term  by 
Mr.  Samuel  Hall,  followed  by  the  longer  one  of  Mr.  Syl¬ 
vester  Bliss,  who  held  the  headship  for  three  years.  He 
was  born  in  Tolland,  Connecticut,  1814;  engaged  in  teach¬ 
ing  one  of  the  Hartford  schools,  and  became  a  member 
of  the  Eliot  Church  in  1848. 

Mr.  Bliss  was  a  man  of  much  kindliness  of  disposition, 
of  rare  good  sense,  and  of  marked  executive  ability. 
These  traits  were  exhibited  not  only  in  connection  with 
the  Sunday  School,  but  as  a  member  of  the  city  school 
committee,  and  also  as  editor  and  in  business  affairs.  For 
many  years  he  was  agent  and  treasurer  of  the  American 
Millennial  Association,  being  annually  reelected  editor  of 
the  Advent  Herald  with  entire  unanimity.  In  that  posi¬ 
tion  he  exhibited  unusual  candor  and  skill  in  discussion, 
great  familiarity  with  the  Bible,  and  much  acuteness  in 
the  interpretation  of  sacred  scripture.  By  indefatigable 
perseverance  and  by  methods  all  his  own,  he  acquired 
such  knowledge  of  the  Hebrew  and  Greek,  without  regu¬ 
lar  instruction,  as  enabled  him  to  trace  the  usage  of  words 
in  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  effectively  for  purposes 
of  original  discussion.  As  a  controversialist  he  held  the 
pen  of  a  cautious,  able,  and  independent  writer.  While 
editing  the  journal  above  mentioned,  he  was  an  occasional 
contributor  to  weekly  papers  in  Boston  and  Hartford ; 


372 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


and  his  works,  larger  and  smaller,  which  were  published 
separately,  amounted  to  nearly  thirty. 

As  a  member  of  the  church  Mr.  Bliss,  without  being 
in  the  least  officious,  was  always  ready  for  good  words 
and  work,  whether  in  devotional  meetiugs  or  neighborhood 
labor.  Though  very  decided  in  his  views  regarding  pre- 
millenarianism,  he  never  obtruded  them  upon  the  Eliot 
Church.  Its  members  differed  from  him  on  that  subject; 
yet  they  respected  him  for  his  firm  advocacy,  in  a  weekly 
organ,  of  what  seemed  to  him  a  true  interpretation  of 
prophecy,  and  at  the  same  time  honored  him  for  the 
absence  of  all  narrow,  partisan  and  heated  advocacy. 

In  Hartford  he  belonged  to  the  Second  Church,  of 
which  the  Rev.  Dr.  O.  E.  Daggett  was  then  pastor,  who 
entertained  a  warm  regard  for  him,  and  who  communi¬ 
cated  this  incident:  “Twenty  years  ago  Mr.  Bliss  had  a 
situation  in  the  Hartford  Post  Office.  He  was  at  length 
informed  that  certain  service  would  be  required  on  the 
Sabbath.  He  resigned  his  situation,  not  having  any  other 
employment  at  hand,  and  being  dependent  upon  his  own 
efforts.  He,  however,  immediately  found  a  better  situation, 
and  since  then  has  never  been  without  employment  and 
a  fair  measure  of  success.”  The  funeral  of  Mr.  Bliss  took 
place  in  the  Eliot  Church,  March  8,  1863,  when  the  tears 
of  a  Sunday  School  and  congregation  bore  witness  to  the 
general  affection  and  esteem  in  which  he  was  held. 


NOTEWORTHY  LAYMEN. 


373 


13.  ROBERT  MCMASTER  CARSON. 

Was  he  one  of  the  prominent  members  of  the 
church  ?  Perhaps  not,  to  human  eyes,  but  he  was,  we 
doubt  not,  to  angelic  eyes.  In  social  position  very  lowly, 
in  Christian  worth  he  stood  high. 

Ancestors  of  his  moved  from  Scotland  to  the  north 
of  Ireland  in  the  time  of  Cromwell,  and  he  was  born  at 
Donaghadee,  June  14,  1815.  After  working  at  his  trade 
as  a  shoemaker  in  Glasgow  and  Dublin,  he  emigrated  to 
Roxbury  in  1844.  On  becoming  a  member  of  the  Eliot 
Church  (1856),  he  stated  to  the  pastor  and  church  com¬ 
mittee  that  his  sole  reliance  for  pardon  and  life  eternal 
was  on  the  atoning  righteousness  of  Jesus  Christ,  his 
belief  being  that  whatever  might  be  good  in  him  was  due 
to  the  Holy  Spirit;  that  his  highest  interest  and  enjoy¬ 
ment  were  in  efforts  to  do  good.  Thereafter  his  life  con¬ 
firmed  that  testimony.  No  one  could  be  more  modest  or 
apparently  more  conscientious.  He  was  indefatigable  in 
efforts  to  promote  the  salvation  of  operatives  with  whom 
he  was  associated,  though  extremely  diffident,  seldom  allow¬ 
ing  an  opportunity  slip  to  invite  sinners  to  come  to 
Christ. 

In  1862,  after  much  prayer,  he  became  convinced 
that  duty  to  his  adopted  country  called  him  to  enlist  in 
the  Union  Army,  and  he  carried  himself  as  a  Christian 
soldier.  From  Fairfax  Station  and  Alexandria  Heights, 
as  well  as  from  other  points,  he  wrote  in  regard  to  re¬ 
ligious  meetings  and  personal  labors  with  individual  men. 


374 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


Sickness  overtook  him,  and  his  last  few  days  were  spent 
in  a  hospital.  The  Chaplain  wrote :  “  He  was  a  man  I 
loved  to  visit,  for  he  loved  the  Saviour  with  an  intense 
affection.  His  religion  made  him  patient  and  happy  ; 
it  gave  him  a  sweetness  of  spirit  which  endeared  him  to 
all  around  him.  The  surgeon  told  me  there  was  some¬ 
thing  about  Mr.  Carson  so  noble  and  good,  that  he  felt 
as  though  he  must  not  die ;  and  the  tears  stole  down  his 
cheeks  as  he  spoke  these  words.”  When  the  Great  Cap¬ 
tain  of  our  salvation  shall  order  the  muster-roll  of  nations, 
we  believe  this  friend  of  ours  will  have  honorable  men¬ 
tion. 

14.  WILLIAM  HENRY  WARDWELL. 

One  of  the  deaths  deeply  deplored  by  the  church,  was 
that  of  Mr.  Wardwell,  who  had  been  a  member  since 
1859.  He  was  born  at  Lyndeborough,  New  Hampshire, 
October  24,  1818,  his  father  being  Dr.  Daniel  Wardwell 
of  that  place.  The  Wardwells  came  from  Ipswich,  Eng¬ 
land.  In  boyhood  our  friend  attended  public  schools 
and  Phillips  Academy  at  Andover.  After  engaging  for 
ten  years  in  the  book  trade  and  printing  at  Andover,  he 
removed  to  Boston,  and  was  successively  associated  with 
John  P.  Jewett  &  Co.,  also  Grant,  Warren  &  Co.,  out 
of  which  grew  the  firm  of  S.  D.  Warren  &  Co.,  with 
which  his  connection  continued  towards  forty  years.  In 
these  relations  he  was  highly  esteemed  for  strict  integrity 
and  careful  attention  to  such  business  as  came  to  his 
charge.  The  same  was  true  regarding  unpaid  services 


NOTEWORTHY  LAYMEN. 


375 


elsewhere.  In  1880  he  was  elected  a  Director  of  the  Sun¬ 
day  School  and  Publishing  Society,  and  for  a  decade  had 
the  position  of  Chairman  of  the  Finance  Committee,  at 
whose  meetings  he  was  punctually  present.  Safe  and 
cautious  counsel,  efficient  attention  to  financial  affairs,  and 
the  bearing  of  a  Christian  gentleman,  characterized  his 
whole  course  in  that  connection. 

Mr.  Ward  well  was  a  generous  man,  as  the  pastors 
and  communities  with  which  he  had  fellowship  were  well 
aware.  It  cost  him  no  effort  to  give.  Contributions  in 
full  proportion  to  his  ability,  for  objects  of  benevolence  — 
and  especially  those  that  are  distinctly  evangelical  —  were 
prompt  and  most  cheerful.  The  smile  on  his  face  in  such 
matters,  and  indeed  uniformly,  told  of  a  heart  in  glad 
sympathy  with  the  best  things  of  the  church  and  the 
world.  Modest  and  gentle,  fond  of  quiet  and  simplicity, 
Mr.  Ward  well  seemed  always  to  act  under  the  control 
of  religious  principle.  His  Bible  and  the  Lord’s  Day 
with  its  services  were  a  delight,  especially  when  the  doc¬ 
trines  of  grace  were  clearly  set  forth.  Whatever  the  dis¬ 
tance  and  inconvenience  of  a  walk  to  the  house  of  God, 
he  would  not  avail  himself  of  any  public  conveyance  on 
the  Sabbath.  Seldom,  if  ever,  is  a  man  to  be  found  less 
pretentious  in  manners,  or  more  steadfast  in  religious  con¬ 
victions.  He  was  at  once  a  model  of  delicacy  and  firm¬ 
ness.  At  the  age  of  seventy-seven  (September,  1896,)  the 
great  harvester  gathered  him  like  as  a  shock  of  corn 
cometh  in  in  his  season. 


376 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


15.  WESLEY  IRESON. 

It  is  not  often  that  any  church  has  a  member  so 
modest,  so  blameless,  so  punctual  and  so  faithful  in  his 
sphere  as  was  Mr.  Ireson.  The  announcement  of  his 
decease,  which  was  very  sudden  and  unlooked  for,  March 
26,  1897,  occasioned  a  shock  throughout  the  circle  of  his 
acquaintance. 

Mr.  Ireson,  a  son  of  the  Rev.  Joseph  Ireson,  was  a 
native  of  Thompson,  Connecticut,  having  been  born  there 
October  5,  1823.  He  left  home  early  to  prepare  for 
business,  and  in  Norwich  came  under  the  pastoral  care 
of  Dr.  Alvin  Bond.  Young  men  and  others  in  the  same 
congregation  formed  a  colony  with  whom  Mr.  Ireson  cast 
in  his  lot,  which  resulted  in  the  organization  of  the  Broad¬ 
way  Church.  Dr.  John  P.  Gulliver,  one  of  our  young 
men,  became  its  first  pastor.  Mr.  Ireson  not  long  after 
made  a  public  profession  of  his  religious  faith.  Some 
years  later  the  business  house  with  which  he  stood  con¬ 
nected  removed  to  Boston ;  and  notwithstanding  heavy 
losses  by  the  fire  of  1889  he  continued  in  the  trade  for 
fifty-five  years.  His  reputation  for  strict  integrity  and 
gentlemanly  bearing  in  all  relations  continued  untarnished. 

In  private  relations  of  life,  Mr.  Ireson  was  noticeably 
unassuming,  gentle  and  cheerful.  His  tastes  were  simple. 
Among  flowers  and  children  he  was  peculiarly  at  home. 
Native  temperament  and  disposition  were  favored  by  sin¬ 
gularly  good  health.  During  more  than  three-score  and 
ten  years  he  required  medical  attendance  only  on  the  day 


NOTEWORTHY  LAYMEN. 


377 


before  his  decease.  For  thirty-seven  years  he  had  not 
failed  of  attendance  upon  public  worship  on  the  Lord’s 
Day;  and  for  eight  and  thirty  years  he  was  the  accurate, 
kindly,  and  ever-welcome  Secretary  of  the  Eliot  Sunday 
School.  Mr.  Ireson  was  a  man  of  few  words,  and  no 
words  of  censure  upon  others.  He  took  the  Bible  as  his 
guide  in  life,  and  it  afforded  him  unfailing  light,  peace  and 
strength. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 


YOUNG  MEN. 

In  no  other  country  or  age  have  young  men  occu¬ 
pied  so  conspicuous  a  place  as  in  our  land,  and  at  the 
present  time.  Never  before  have  they  taken  such  a  lead¬ 
ing  part,  especially  in  civil  and  religious  movements.  The 
young  man  as  a  reformer  and  legislator  is  often  at  the 
front.  Among  our  young  men  there  has  been  a  gratify¬ 
ing  proportion  of  Samuels  and  Josiahs.  They  are  to  be 
found  not  only  in  the  professions,  including  educators, 
but  in  the  business  world.  Offensive  self-confidence,  and 
the  want  of  due  respect,  along  with  intoxication  of  free¬ 
dom  —  which  are  rather  widely  characteristic  of  those 
just  emerging  from  the  tutelage  of  home  and  school  — 
have  not,  with  one  or  two  exceptions,  been  observable. 
Nor  has  there  seemed  to  be  on  their  part  any  intense 
endeavor  to  propitiate  Mammon,  or  to  secure  other  means 
of  self-indulgence.  Praiseworthy  sentiments  and  high 
aims  have,  in  the  main,  been  entertained.  In  starting 
out  on  the  voyage  of  independent  life,  they  have  evi¬ 
dently  had  in  mind  the  difference  between  favoring  trade- 
winds  and  the  typhoon.  At  the  funeral  of  certain  young 
Athenians,  Pericles  remarked  that  the  commonwealth  in 
losing  such  loses  what  the  year  would  if  spring  were  to 
fail.  It  has  sometimes  seemed  to  us  as  if  that  charming 
season  were  gloomily  overcast. 


YOUNG  MEN. 


379 


I.  HENRY  MARTYN  HILL. 

No  young  man,  in  the  early  days  of  this  church, 
enjoyed  greater  respect  than  Henry  Martyn  Hill.  He 
was  the  eldest  son  of  Henry  Hill,  Esq.,  an  officer  of  the 
church,  and  for  many  years  treasurer  of  the  American 
Board.  Few  are  gifted  with  minds  originally  more  active 
and  in  other  respects  more  promising  than  his.  A  physi¬ 
cal  infirmity,  however,  precluded  collegiate  and  profes¬ 
sional  studies;  yet  his  attainments  were  highly  respectable, 
and  his  example  may  well  encourage  the  young  who  labor 
under  special  embarrassments.  On  a  voyage  to  Singa¬ 
pore  in  company  with  missionaries,  when  eighteen  years 
of  age,  he  became  experimentally  acquainted  with  the  truth 
as  it  is  in  Jesus.  Thenceforward  his  growth  in  Christian 
character  was  marked,  one  evidence  of  which  appeared  in 
an  unusual  love  of  the  Bible.  The  Epistle  to  the  Ephe¬ 
sians,  many  of  the  Psalms,  and  other  portions  of  sacred 
Scripture  were  hid  in  his  heart.  Manly,  modest,  blameless, 
his  daily  walk  was  a  persuasive  exhortation  to  young  men 
to  be  sober-minded  and  earnest  in  serving  the  Master. 

The  malady  (epilepsy)  which  long  preyed  upon  him 
did  not  produce  irritableness,  or  lead  to  unavailing  com¬ 
plaints.  He  did  what  he  could,  and  his  Christian  activity 
continued  to  the  last.  It  required  an  effort  to  be  re¬ 
signed  to  live ;  but  the  spirit  of  meek,  submissive  endur¬ 
ance  was  clearly  manifest.  An  extract  or  two  from  his 
journal  will  indicate,  in  some  measure,  his  caste  and  habit 
of  mind.  Speaking  of  a  second  voyage  he  wrote:  “In  my 
passage  in  the  Montreal  to  Rio  (1847),  I  accomplished  the 


380 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


careful  perusal  of  Butler’s  Ajialogy.  I  finished  it  just 
when  the  severity  of  my  sickness  made  me  unable  to  read 
more  than  a  page  or  two  at  a  time,  and  felt  its  power 
to  fortify  me  in  the  truth  of  Christianity,  during  the 
darkest  and  most  painful  hours  of  the  succeeding  illness. 
To  .my  mind  it  brings  exactly  the  consolation  and  sup¬ 
port  that  I  have  long  and  distinctly  felt  the  want  of, 
furnishing  an  argument  in  logical,  tangible,  practical  form, 
why  one  should  trust  in  revealed  religion,  and  risk  his 
spiritual  interests  thereon,  on  similar  principles  to  those 
which  govern  men’s  actions  under  the  constitution  and 
course  of  nature.” 

“  I  trust  that  nothing  I  have  done,  or  omitted  to  do, 
will  bring  reproach  upon  the  cause  of  Christ.  It  has  been 
difficult,  from  day  to  day,  to  know  how  to  behave  in  the 
intimate  company  of  a  set  of  midshipmen,  in  the  steerage 
of  a  man-of-war.  In  the  first  place  I  have  not  joined  in 
their  vulgarity  or  profanity.  In  listening  to  a  vast  deal 
of  it,  mingled  as  it  has  been  with  all  their  conversation,  I 
have  been  exceedingly  pained,  disgusted,  and  desirous  to 
speak  in  the  way  of  disapprobation,  or  even  of  reproof.” 

“  My  own  bark  still  at  anchor  rides 
Close  to  the  shore  where  varying  tides 
Now  lift  me  high,  then  bring  me  low, 

And  thus  my  weak  dependence  show. 

The  shallow  waters  sometimes  will 
Unto  my  downcast  eye  reveal 
The  ground  below ;  but  every  day, 

And  many  a  night  makes  rich  display 
Of  glories,  which  hope’s  upturned  eye 
Through  faith’s  bright  glass  can  quick  descry.” 


YOUNG  MEN. 


3^ 

“  I  almost  danced  before  the  Lord,  with  my  joy  that 
I  had  been  allowed  to  preach  Christ  to  that  young  man. 
My  prayers  were  earnest  that  God,  for  Jesus’  sake,  would 
send  his  Holy  Spirit  to  that  heart,  and  sanctify  the  means 
employed  for  his  benefit.”  Among  the  last  entries  was 
the  following :  “  I  feel  that  ‘  sundown  ’  may  come  to  me 
any  day;  and  then  I  will  have  to  add,  ‘reached  home  — 
but  what  a  sunrise  !  ’  ” 

A  booklet,  entitled  The  Yoke  in  Youth ,  relating  to 
Mr.  Hill,  was  issued  over  forty  years  ago.  He  died 
April  28,  1856,  aged  thirty-four. 

2.  JOHN  J.  CARRUTHERS,  JR. 

A  son  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Carruthers  of  Portland,  Maine, 
was  a  young  man  of  elegant  person,  pleasing  manners, 
and  amiable  disposition.  Being  a  fellow  boarder  with 
him,  I  had  opportunity  for  intimate  acquaintance,  and 
came  to  regard  his  Christian  character  as  undoubted. 
He  felt  under  deep  obligations  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Wilkes 
of  Montreal.  It  was  by  letter  that  he  came  into  connec¬ 
tion  with  our  church  in  1848.  But  having  a  highly- 
strung  nervous  temperament,  and  imperfect  health,  he  fell 
into  despondency,  and  at  length  into  extreme  depression. 
Suspicion  of  friends,  and,  indeed,  all  about  him,  took  pos¬ 
session  of  his  mind,  and  return  to  Portland  became 
necessary.  On  reaching  his  father’s  house  indications  of 
insanity  were  unmistakable.  He  could  not  wait  for  the 
door  to  be  opened,  but  tried  to  force  his  way  in,  saying 


382 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


that  officers  of  justice  were  pursuing  him.  Such  was  his 
mental  distress  that  he  would  pray  all  night,  and  so  loud 
that  no  one  in  the  house  could  sleep.  Removal  to  the 
asylum  at  Somerville  took  place.  Under  the  hallucina¬ 
tion  that  it  was  wrong  for  him  to  receive  nourishment, 
he  became  emaciated  and  haggard,  and  expired  Septem¬ 
ber  6,  1851.  His  father  wrote:  “I  gladly  embrace  this 
opportunity  of  expressing  to  you  my  cherished  sense  of 
obligation  as  the  much-loved  pastor,  whose  instructions 
he  so  much  valued,  and  under  whose  ministry  he  seems 
to  have  made  such  sensible,  and,  to  all  but  himself,  satis¬ 
factory  advances  in  the  Christian  life.  He  ever  spoke 
and  wrote  of  his  minister  with  reverential  and  fond  affec¬ 
tion.  Your  excellent  Deacon  Kittredge  stood  high  in 
his  esteem.  Of  Mr.  Walley  he  could  never  speak  but 
with  outpouring  gratitude  and  love.”  No  funeral  services 
were  more  sad  than  those  of  such  young  friends  as  Mr. 
Carruthers.  It  was  as  if  bright  stars  had  been  quenched 
mysteriously. 

3.  D.  JARVIS  HASTINGS. 

The  December  of  1858  closed  in  deep  sadness  that 
settled  on  a  wide  circle  of  relatives  and  friends.  Close 
upon  Christmas  a  brilliant  morning  was  overcast,  and 
highest  hopes  were  suddenly  dashed.  Young  Hastings, 
only  eighteen,  amiable,  winning,  warmly  loved,  at  the 
head  of  his  class  in  the  university  of  a  neighboring  state, 
succumbed  to  disease.  Never  were  our  hearts  heavier 
than  when  we  joined  in  the  procession  that  carried  out  of 


YOUNG  MEN. 


383 


the  city  the  corpse  of  that  only  son  of  his  mother,  and 
she  a  widow.  Yet  there  was  much  relief  to  her  mind 
and  ours,  that,  in  a  lucid  hour  of  sickness,  the  Saviour’s 
voice  seemed  to  be  heard,  “  Y oung  man,  I  say  unto  thee, 
arise  !  ”  We  cherish  the  belief  of  his  resurrection  rather 
than  the  memory  of  his  death. 

4.  NATHAN  HAGGETT  BROWN. 

At  the  midsummer  sacramental  service  of  1866,  thirty- 
eight  persons  presented  themselves,  avowing  the  Lord 

Jehovah  to  be  their  God  and  portion  forever;  avowing 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  their  Saviour,  devoting  to  him 
all  their  faculties,  powers,  and  possessions.  Side  by  side 
stood  three  brothers.  The  parents  came  at  the  same 

time  from  another  church.  The  natural  and  the  spiritual 
life  of  two  of  those  brothers  ran  parallel  in  twin  ex¬ 
perience.  It  cost  us  —  as  has  often  been  the  case  —  no 

little  feeling  when  the  transfer  to  a  distant  city  took 

place.  His  pastor  there  1  wrote  me  :  “  Candid,  outspoken, 
conscientious,  he  seemed  to  be  chiefly  anxious  to  discover 
the  way  of  duty  for  himself ;  and  whatever  appeared  to 
him  to  be  the  requirement  of  right  in  the  case,  he  stood 
ready  to  do.  He  was  strongly  impelled  by  the  desire  and 
purpose  to  make  his  personal  culture  as  thorough  and 
complete  as  possible.  Whatever  an  earnest,  devoted,  faith¬ 
ful  Christian  young  man  would  be  expected  to  do  from 
his  relations  to  the  church  and  the  kingdom  of  God,  all 


1  Rev.  Dr.  Helmer,  Union  Park  Church,  Chicago. 


384 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


that  Nathan  Brown  proposed  to  himself  to  do,  and  was 
largely  successful  in  his  endeavor.  The  tender,  sympa¬ 
thetic,  ardent  feelings  which  made  him  a  valued  neighbor, 
contributed  to  his  excellence  as  a  Sunday  School  teacher, 
and  many  souls  were  given  him  as  seals  of  that  limited 
but  responsible  ministry.”  But  his  Christian  aims  were 
not  limited  to  persons  and  fields  purely  local  and  imme¬ 
diate.  He  did  not  know  how  to  be  narrow.  Repeatedly 
he  wrote  to  me  here  in  Roxbury,  desiring  information 
and  sources  of  information  in  regard  to  foreign  missions. 

In  business,  and  other  wide  relations,  he  commanded 
respect.  It  is  not  often  that  enthusiasm  of  temperament 
and  conservatism  of  judgment  are  so  happily  combined. 
That  poise  of  character  must  be  attributed  in  no  small 
degree  to  the  steadying  influence  of  religious  principle, 
and  to  the  study  of  a  volume  which  has  power  beyond 
all  others  to  impose  restraint  when  needed,  and  to  pro¬ 
duce  equilibrium.  But  why  was  a  man  so  useful  and  so 
young  removed  ?  His  own  words  on  one  evening  (May 
21,  1878)  of  his  short  and  last  violent  sickness,  were  full 
of  meaning,  “It  is  all  right.”  Though  taken  from  the 
midst  of  greater  usefulness  and  greater  enjoyment  than 
ever  before,  it  was  all  right.  By  such  transfers  heaven 
gains  more  than  earth  loses.  The  best  service  here  is 
followed  by  preferable  service  there.  From  the  malaria 
of  Romish  superstition  and  Jesuit  guile,  inestimably  worse 
than  Roman  fever,  he  remained  untainted.  Milan  and 
the  plains  of  Lombardy  are  no  farther  from  Paradise  than 


YOUNG  MEN. 


385 


our  western  prairies.  “  It  is  all  right  ”  that  the  transla¬ 
tion  should  take  place  in  traveling.  The  heavenly- 
minded  Archbishop  Leighton  expressed  a  wish  that  he 
might  die  on  a  journey,  and  at  an  inn.  His  desire  was 
gratified.  For  Nathan  Brown  to  travel  was  not  to  wan¬ 
der.  He  recognized  the  fact  that  whether  at  home  or 
abroad  we  are  alike,  “  strangers  and  pilgrims  on  the 
earth.”  Italy  itself  became  for  us  yet  more  a  sunny  land, 
her  skies  have  an  intenser  blue,  richer  tints  mingle  in 
the  morning  glory  of  her  mountains,  since  our  beloved 
friend  went  up  thence  to  be  forever  with  the  Lord. 

Of  the  four  preceding  there  were  compeers,  some 
of  them  schoolmates,  who  still  survive.  They  are  all  over 
fifty  years  of  age,  and  the  following  are  among  the  mem¬ 
bers  of  that  group. 


5.  EDWARD  P.  FLINT. 

A  considerable  number  of  the  congregation  removed, 
at  different  times,  to  California.  Among  these  was  the 
father  of  Mr.  Flint,  who,  after  being  a  merchant  in  Boston, 
and  then  in  Buenos  Ayres,  South  America,  established 
(1849)  the  commercial  house  of  Flint,  Peabody  &  Co.  in 
San  Francisco.  This  son,  who  was  born  in  Boston  (1828), 
and  had  prepared  for  college,  followed  the  family  (1850) 
to  the  Pacific  coast,  and  soon  became  a  member  of  the 
firm,  which,  for  many  years,  enjoyed  much  success. 

The  decisive  spiritual  change  in  Mr.  Flint  occurred 
in  youth,  and  stood  connected  with  the  prayers  of  his 


386 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


mother,  and  with  a  Christian  call  from  Deacon  James  Clap, 
who  read  the  one  hundred  and  third  Psalm,  conversed 
and  prayed  with  him.  Mr.  Flint,  as  well  as  his  mother, 
was  received  to  this  church  on  confession  of  their  faith 
in  1846;  and  his  position  at  the  Golden  Gate  has  been 
that  of  a  valued  Christian  man.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
Executive  Committee  of  the  famous  “  Vigilance  Commit¬ 
tee  ”  of  1856.  Soon  after  his  transfer  to  the  First  Con¬ 
gregational  Church  of  San  Francisco  he  was  elected  a 
trustee  and  treasurer,  a  teacher  in  the  Sunday  School,  and 
also,  not  long  after,  a  deacon  of  the  church.  Upon  re¬ 
moving  to  Oakland  (1862)  he  came  into  similar  positions 
connected  with  the  First  Church  there,  besides  being 
superintendent  of  the  Sunday  School,  a  trustee  of  the 
Pacific  Theological  Seminary  from  its  organization,  1868. 
A  share  in  other  similar  trusts  has  been  committed  to 
him.  Some  of  these  positions  were  held  for  forty  or  more 
years.  From  i860  to  1892  he  was  financial  agent  of  the 
American  Board,  and  from  1876  has  been  a  corporate 
member  of  that  body. 

6.  GEORGE  ALVAH  KITTREDGE. 

He  was  born  in  Boston  (1833)  before  his  father’s  family 
removed  to  Roxbury.  On  account  of  delicate  health  he 
went,  in  1849,  to  the  Levant,  and  was  absent  from  home 
for  fourteen  months.  During  that  time  many  weeks  were 
spent  with  friends  at  Beirut,  and  on  Mt.  Lebanon;  Da¬ 
mascus  was  visited,  and  the  Holy  Land.  The  return  home 


YOUNG  MEN. 


387 


in  1850  was  by  way  of  Smyrna,  Constantinople,  Northern 
Italy,  and  Switzerland ;  Paris,  London,  and  Edinburgh. 

Mr.  Kittredge  had  previously  studied  in  our  Latin 
School,  and  after  some  further  preparation  privately,  he 
entered  Yale  College  (1851),  and  graduated  the  fourth  in 
his  class  of  ninety-one  members.  Having  taken  the  Clark 
Scholarship  he  remained  a  fifth  year  at  New  Haven.  The 
next  year  (1857)  he  entered  the  office  of  Naylor  &  Co., 
Boston,  who  were  engaged  in  the  foreign  iron  trade,  but 
in  1862  he  went  to  Bombay  and  joined  the  firm  of 
Stearns,  Hobart  &  Co.  That  city  has  since  been  his 
home,  and  in  the  course  of  these  thirty-eight  years  he  has 
made  nineteen  trips  each  way,  two  of  them  being  round 
the  world.  Bombay  had  grown  to  be  a  city  of  nine  hun¬ 
dred  thousand  inhabitants,  before  the  late  visitation  of  the 
plague.  Mr.  Kittredge  has  been  an  active  member  of 
the  Chamber  of  Commerce;  also  of  the  Port  Trust,  in 
whose  care  are  placed  the  harbor  fore-shore  and  the  city 
docks,  valued  at  many  millions.  He  secured  the  con¬ 
cession  for  a  horse-railway  in  Bombay,  which  has  been  a 
great  success,  and  now  has  a  track  of  about  twenty  miles, 
and  carries  sixty  thousand  passengers  daily. 

Mr.  Kittredge  was  the  pioneer  in  one  of  the  impor¬ 
tant  benevolences  of  India  —  the  introduction  of  female 
physicians.  Sufficient  funds  were  secured,  chiefly  from 
natives,  to  bring  out  three  ladies  equipped  with  full  medi¬ 
cal  degrees.  Funds  were  also  secured  by  him  and  an 
influential  associate,  a  Parsee  gentleman,  for  a  hospital, 


388 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


a  dispensary,  and  then  for  a  second  hospital,  all  of  which 
are  in  sole  charge  of  lady  doctors.  Through  the  same 
influence  women  were  admitted  to  the  Medical  School 
at  Bombay,  as  well  as  afterwards  to  the  similar  schools  of 
Madras  and  Calcutta.  This  movement  led  on  to  the 
establishment  of  the  Lady  Dufferin  Fund,  and  to  the 
furnishing  of  hospitals,  dispensaries,  and  nurses  for  women 
in  many  parts  of  India.  Mr.  Kittredge’s  English  friends 
wished  him  to  be  presented  to  Queen  Victoria,  who  took 
much  interest  in  the  scheme  that  originated  at  Bombay, 
but  he  declined  the  formality.  Mr.  Kittredge  prepared 
an  interesting  booklet  entitled,  A  Short  History  of  the 
Medical  Women  for  India  Fund  of  Bombay ,  which  was 
published  at  Bombay  in  1889. 

7.  JOSEPH  EPES  BROWN. 

Mr.  Brown’s  earliest  ancestor  this  side  of  the  Atlantic 
settled  at  Ipswich,  Massachusetts,  in  1637.  Along  the 
lines  subsequently  appear  the  names  of  Deputy  Governor 
Symonds,  Sarah  Dudley,  sister  of  Governor  Dudley,  and 
George  Jacobs,  one  of  those  who  were  accused  and  who 
suffered  death  in  the  “  Salem  Witchcraft  ”  frenzy.  His 
great-grandparents  were  among  those  to  whom  a  large 
tract  of  New  Hampshire  land  was  granted  in  consid¬ 
eration  of  services  rendered  during  one  of  the  colo¬ 
nial  wars.  Boston  was  his  birthplace  (August  23,  1843), 
and  the  family  moved  to  a  commanding  site  on  Parker 
Hill,  Roxbury,  when  Joseph  was  five  years  of  age.  At 


YOUNG  MEN. 


389 


eighteen  he  entered  on  a  clerkship  in  a  large  mercantile 
house  of  Boston,  and  two  years  later  took  a  similar  posi¬ 
tion  with  Blake  Brothers  &  Co.  With  that  firm  he  has 
remained  in  various  capacities,  from  office-attendant  to 
partner,  till  the  present  time,  thirty-eight  years.  Upon 
the  death  of  the  senior  Mr.  Blake  (1874),  he  was  selected 
as  the  one  for  the  branch  office  on  Wall  Street,  New 
York.  His  energy  and  tact  have  contributed  much 
toward  making  that  branch  outstrip  in  quantity  the  busi¬ 
ness  house  in  Boston. 

In  1866,  Mr.  Brown,  with  his  twin  brother  Nathan 
and  also  a  third  brother,  as  well  as  many  others,  the 
fruit  of  a  revival,  joined  the  Eliot  Church.  Religious 
earnestness  and  activity  were  early  manifest.  Upon  mar¬ 
riage  he  removed  his  connection  to  the  Central  Church ; 
and  not  long  after  became  Superintendent  of  its  Sunday 
School,  and  later  of  the  Mission  School  at  the  Old  Col¬ 
ony  Chapel.  On  removing  to  Brooklyn,  New  York,  he 
took  service  at  once  in  the  School  of  the  Church  of  the 
Pilgrims,  then  in  its  large  Mission  School  (Pilgrim 
Chapel),  of  which  he  soon  became  Assistant  Superin¬ 
tendent  and  Superintendent.  In  other  outside  activities 
Mr.  Brown  has  had  a  share,  as  well  as  in  the  weekly 
church  meetings.  At  the  jubilee  of  Dr.  R.  S.  Storrs’ 
pastorate  he  was  selected  to  deliver  the  address,  “  From 
the  People  to  the  Pastor.”  For  several  years  he  has 
been  a  corporate  member  of  the  American  Board.  Vari¬ 
ous  philanthropic  and  other  institutions  in  Brooklyn  have 


39° 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


claimed  his  services  as  trustee,  or  in  other  positions.  He 
has  made  not  less  than  a  dozen  voyages,  chiefly  to 
Europe,  one  to  the  Windward  Islands  and  South  America, 
as  well  as  one  visit  to  the  Hawaiian  Islands.  Notwith¬ 
standing  the  pressure  of  business  and  of  local  engage¬ 
ments,  he  is  a  studious  man,  and  in  his  library  of  three 
thousand  volumes  finds  recreation  and  unremitting  self¬ 
culture.  Well  would  it  be  if  such  a  habit  were  more 
general. 

8.  HON.  JAMES  M.  W.  HALL. 

Mr.  Hall  is  a  native  of  Boston.  In  the  Latin  School 
of  Boston  and  that  of  Roxbury  he  prepared  for  college, 
but  went  into  business,  and  for  the  last  decade  or  more 
has  belonged  to  the  firm  of  Wellman,  Hall  &  Co.,  whole¬ 
sale  lumber  merchants. 

At  seventeen  years  of  age  he  joined  the  Eliot  Church 
(1859)  on  confession  of  faith;  but  afterwards  removed  to 
Cambridge,  where  for  more  than  twenty  years  he  has 
been  one  of  the  officers  of  the  First  Church,  and  for  a 
number  of  years  was  Superintendent  of  its  Sunday  School. 
In  1880  he  was  Mayor  of  the  city  of  Cambridge,  and  since 
1893  has  been  a  member  of  the  Prudential  Committee  of 
the  American  Board.  He  has  also  borne  part  in  other 
important  trusts. 


9.  COL.  EBENEZER  W.  STONE. 

A  son  of  Gen.  E.  W.  Stone,  was  born  in  Roxbury, 
October  23,  1837.  He  was  commissioned  as  captain  in 


YOUNG  MEN.  391 

1 

the  First  Massachusetts  Infantry,  1861,  and  served  with 
his  regiment,  which  was  engaged  in  the  battle  of  Bull 
Run,  and  in  all  the  engagements  —  that  at  Antietam  ex¬ 
cepted —  of  the  army  of  the  Potomac  till  mustered  out  in 
1864.  He  was  then  appointed  lieutenant-colonel  in  the 
Sixty-first  Massachusetts.  These  appointments  were  in 
the  volunteer  service,  but  he  passed  into  the  regular  army, 
1866;  and  in  the  United  States  Twenty-first  Infantry  has 
been  promoted  to  a  captaincy.  He  was  brevetted  colonel 
of  volunteers,  for  gallant  and  meritorious  service  during  the 
campaign  that  resulted  in  the  fall  of  Richmond,  Virginia, 
and  the  surrender  of  the  insurgent  army  under  Gen. 
R.  E.  Lee. 

Since  the  war  of  rebellion,  Colonel  Stone  has  served 
in  various  capacities  and  under  different  generals  in  com¬ 
mand —  as  chief  quartermaster,  adjutant  of  the  artillery 
school,  assistant  adjutant-general,  military  commissioner, 
and  aid-de-camp  to  different  generals.  He  was  on  duty 
in  the  Bannock  campaign  of  1878;  at  Rock  Springs, 
Wyoming,  during  the  anti-Chinese  riots ;  and  at  various 
forts  in  different  military  departments. 

Under  appointment  to  the  regular  army,  he  was 
brevetted  captain  United  States  Army  for  gallant  and 
meritorious  service  at  the  battle  of  Williamsburg;  major 
for  similar  services  at  the  battle  of  Chancellorsville ;  and 
lieutenant-colonel  for  like  services  at  the  battle  of 
Gettysburg. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 


MINISTERIAL  RECRUITS. 

I.  PROF.  JOHN  P.  GULLIVER,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

Dr.  John  P.  Gulliver  was  born  in  Boston,  May  12, 
1819,  and  lived  the  same  number  of  years  (seventy-five) 
as  his  mother.  After  graduating  from  Phillips  Andover 
Academy,  and  then  from  Yale  College  (1840),  he  was  for 
two  years  Principal  of  the  Academy  in  West  Randolph, 
Massachusetts.  Upon  graduating  from  the  Andover  Theo¬ 
logical  Seminary  (1846),  Dr.  Gulliver  became  pastor  for 
twenty  years  of  the  Main  Street,  now  Broadway  Church, 
Norwich,  Connecticut.  During  that  period  he  was  chiefly 
instrumental  in  securing  the  foundation  of  an  academy 
of  superior  grade,  having  at  the  outset  an  endowment  of 
over  seventy-six  thousand,  which  has  been  increased  to 
more  than  four  hundred  thousand.  For  four  years  he 
conducted  a  weekly  paper.  In  1865  he  accepted  an  invi¬ 
tation  to  the  New  England  Church,  Chicago,  Illinois, 
where  he  remained  for  three  years.  Knox  College  then 
claimed  him  as  its  president  for  four  years,  when  he  re¬ 
moved  to  Binghamton,  New  York,  and  for  six  years 
ministered  to  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  that  place. 
From  1878  onward,  Dr.  Gulliver  was  Stone  Professor  of 
“  Christianity  and  Science  ”  in  the  Theological  Seminary 
at  Andover,  Massachusetts,  where  he  died  January  25, 


MINISTERIAL  RECRUITS. 


393 


1894.  In  the  course  of  his  fifteen  or  sixteen  years’  pro¬ 
fessorship,  Dr.  Gulliver  was  for  a  time  a  member  of  the 
corporation  of  Yale  College. 

He  was  a  man  of  strong  and  independent  convic¬ 
tions.  He  did  not  agree  with  associates  in  the  faculty  at 
Andover  regarding  future  probation.  Always  earnest, 
and  sometimes  intense,  he  was  a  hard-working  man, 
although  suffering  much  from  a  spinal  injury  occasioned 
by  a  fall.  To  speak  of  his  agreeable  companionship,  or  of 
his  ability,  would  be  superfluous.  His  interest  in  public 
affairs  —  reform  movements  and  education  —  was  marked. 
In  the  cause  of  temperance,  anti-slavery,  and  suppression 
of  the  southern  rebellion,  he  was  notably  fearless  and 
energetic. 

2.  REV.  WILLIAM  LADD  ROPES. 

The  family  of  Mr.  Hardy  Ropes  was  connected  with 
the  Eliot  congregation  in  its  early  days,  when  worshiping 
in  a  hall,  and  their  son  (born  July  29,  1825)  was  a  mem¬ 
ber  of  the  Sunday  School  and  of  the  class  taught  by  Mr. 
Henry  Hill.  He  was  admitted  to  the  fellowship  of  the 
church  in  1841.  Having  graduated  from  the  Boston 
Latin  School  and  from  Harvard  College  (1846),  he  became 
an  usher  for  two  years  in  the  Latin  School,  and  then 
studied  theology  at  the  Andover  Seminary,  graduating 
with  the  class  of  1852.  For  nine  years  he  was  the  in¬ 
stalled  pastor  of  the  First  Church  in  Wrentham,  Massa¬ 
chusetts.  From  1866  to  the  present  time  Mr.  Ropes 
has  been  librarian  of  the  Andover  Theological  Semi- 


394 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


nary.  He  is  a  cousin  of  Hon.  Joseph  S.  Ropes,  and 
their  ancestors  were  among  the  early  residents  of  Salem. 

3.  REV.  WILLIAM  SEWALL. 

A  cousin  of  Mr.  William  L.  Ropes,  belonged  to  our 
Sunday  School  in  its  early  period,  and  was  one  of  Mr. 
Morrill’s  pupils.  He  was  born  in  Boston,  December  14, 
1827  ;  prepared  for  college  at  the  Roxbury  Latin  School 
and  in  Cambridge,  graduating  from  Harvard  in  1849. 
After  one  year  at  the  Andover  Seminary  he  taught  for 
two  years  in  Maine,  and  graduated  from  the  Theological 
Institution  in  Bangor,  1854.  He  was  successively  pastor 
of  churches  in  Lunenburg  and  Norwich,  Vermont,  ten 
years  each ;  pastor  of  churches  in  Littleton,  Charlton,  and 
Templeton,  Massachusetts,  for  shorter  terms.  His  death 
occurred  while  living  with  a  son  in  Kansas  City,  May  25, 
1896. 

A  classmate  and  relative,  Prof.  J.  B.  Sewall,  writes : 
“  He  was  constitutionally  of  a  sunny  and  cheerful  disposi¬ 
tion,  very  unselfish,  benevolent  to  his  own  harm.  These 
traits,  backed  by  a  conscience  quick  to  respond  to  a  sense 
of  duty,  made  him  a  loved  friend  and  a  welcomed  pastor. 
His  religious  life  began  at  a  very  early  date  —  in  his  boy¬ 
hood  —  and  in  its  simplicity,  purity,  and  steadfastness  it 
was  like  the  steady  flowing  spring,  increasing  in  volume 
to  its  end.  To  preach  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  was  his 
love,  and  it  was  a  gospel  of  love  which  he  preached  both 
in  word  and  in  deed  to  the  end  of  his  life.” 


MINISTERIAL  RECRUITS. 


395 


4.  REV.  JOHN  HENRY  DENISON,  D.D. 

Born  in  Boston,  March  3,  1841,  but  in  his  infancy  the 
family  removed  to  Roxbury.  It  is  a  tribute  to  the  appro¬ 
priateness  of  Scripture  texts  in  conspicuous  places  that 
he  remembered  very  distinctly  these  words  on  the  wall 
of  a  primary  schoolroom:  “To  them  who  by  patient  con¬ 
tinuance  in  well-doing  seek  for  glory,  and  honor,  and 
immortality,  eternal  life.”  The  family  having  returned  to 
Boston,  his  more  advanced  education  was  pursued  at 
Andover  Academy,  Williams  College,  and  at  Andover 
Theological  Seminary  for  two  years,  followed  by  one  year 
with  Dr.  Mark  Hopkins. 

Pastorates  have  been  held  successively  at  South  Wil- 
liamstown,  Massachusetts;  New  Britain,  Connecticut;  Hamp¬ 
ton  Normal  School;  and  Williams  College.  Two  years  were 
spent  in  foreign  travel.  Dr.  Denison’s  mature  life  has  been 
one  continued  struggle  with  inherited  nervous  infirmity,  and 
prolonged  illness  has  compelled  retirement  from  favorite 
ministerial  labors.  He  married  a  daughter  of  the  late 
President  Hopkins,  and  their  only  son  is  pastor  of  “  The 
Church  of  Sea  and  Land,”  New  York  City. 

Dr.  Denison’s  able  pen  has  furnished  contributions 
to  various  magazines.  One  volume  also,  entitled  Christ's 
Idea  of  the  Supernatural ,  has  been  given  to  the  public. 
He  holds  firmly  to  the  evangelical  faith,  particularly  the 
divinity,  the  atonement,  the  resurrection,  and  the  presence 
of  our  blessed  Lord.  His  aim  is  a  practical  rather  than 
philosophic  presentation  of  the  Keswick  movement,  an 


396 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


attempt  to  realize  the  Pentecostal  gift  in  an  all  around 
forceful  human  life. 

5.  REV.  GEORGE  EDWARDS  HILL. 

Mr.  Hill,  a  son  of  Henry  Hill,  Esq.,  was  born  in 
Boston,  November  3,  1824.  His  graduation  from  Phillips 
Academy,  Andover,  was  in  1841  ;  from  Yale  College  in 
1846  ;  and  from  Yale  Theological  Seminary  in  1849. 

He  has  had  pastorates  beginning  at  Manchester, 
Connecticut,  1851;  then  at  Sheffield,  Massachusetts,  1855; 
at  Saxonville,  Massachusetts,  in  1863;  at  Southport,  Con¬ 
necticut,  1870;  at  Pittsfield,  New  Hampshire,  1881  ;  and 
was  a  stated  supply  elsewhere.  From  1877  to  1880  Mr. 
Hill  was  in  the  employ  of  the  American  Missionary  Asso¬ 
ciation  at  Marion,  Alabama.  From  1892  onward  he  has 
resided  at  Indianapolis,  Indiana.  Mr.  Hill  has  been 
blessed  in  his  labors,  and  has  witnessed  revivals  of  re¬ 
ligion,  which  were  followed  by  gratifying  accessions  to 
the  church. 


6.  REV.  ISAAC  c.  WHITE. 

Abington  was  Mr.  White’s  birthplace  (February  24, 
1822),  though  the  family  removed  to  Roxbury  during  his 
infancy.  It  is  understood  that  Peregrine  White,  born  on 
board  the  “  Mayflower,”  was  an  ancestor.  At  seventeen 
years  of  age  Mr.  White  joined  the  Eliot  Church.  In  early 
boyhood  he  lost  his  own  mother ;  but  a  most  devoted 
Christian  stepmother  —  one  of  many  such  in  our  land  — 


MINISTERIAL  RECRUITS. 


397 


was  unwearying  in  prayer  for  him,  and  her  influence  was 
a  manifest  benediction.  Passing  through  public  schools 
here,  including  the  Latin  School,  he  entered  Oberlin 
College,  and  graduated  from  that  institution  in  1845,  anc^ 
from  the  Andover  Theological  Seminary  in  1849.  From 
1850,  for  ten  years,  Mr.  White  was  a  successful  pastor  in 
Abington;  then  in  Nantucket;  then  for  more  than  twenty 
years  in  Newmarket,  New  Hampshire;  and  later  was,  for 
several  years,  pastor  of  the  Scotland  Church  in  Bridge- 
water,  Massachusetts.  Seasons  of  marked  religious  interest 
and  fruitfulness  occurred  during  this  ministry,  after  one 
of  which  there  was  an  accession  of  thirty-five  members 
to  the  church,  and  after  another  an  accession  of  forty-five. 
Upon  a  review  of  ministerial  life  Mr.  White,  notwith¬ 
standing  some  trials  and  perplexities,  regards  it  as  the 
most  attractive,  and  the  highest  of  all  earthly  callings. 
He  rejoices  with  great  joy  in  the  privilege  of  preaching 
the  “everlasting  gospel.”  It  has  also  been  his  privilege 
to  part  with  a  son,  Schuyler  S.  White,  for  missionary 
service.  The  latter  was  born  in  Plymouth  (1861);  at  thir¬ 
teen  joined  the  church  in  Newmarket,  New  Hampshire; 
graduated  from  Harvard  College  with  the  class  of  1884; 
and  after  teaching  for  a  year  in  the  preparatory  depart¬ 
ment  of  Drury  College,  Missouri,  pursued  theological  study 
at  the  Yale  Divinity  School,  graduating  in  1890.  Ordi¬ 
nation  soon  took  place,  and  under  appointment  of  the 
American  Board  he  sailed  for  Japan.  After  five  years 
at  Okayama  he  removed  to  Isuyama. 


398 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


Besides  contributions  to  the  weekly  press,  the  follow¬ 
ing  discourses  of  Mr.  Isaac  C.  White  have  been  pub¬ 
lished  : 

Farewell  Sermon  at  Abington,  i860. 

Sermon  on  the  National  Crisis,  1861. 

Memorial  of  Perley  W.  Tenney,  Newmarket,  1869. 

Semi-Centennial  Discourse,  commemorating  the  Organization  of  the 
Newmarket  Church,  1878. 

Address  at  the  Funeral  of  Hon.  William  B.  Small,  1878. 

Address  before  the  Gay  Post  of  G.  A.  R.,  1882. 

7.  REV.  EVARTS  SCUDDER. 

Third  son  of  Charles  and  Jane  Marshall  Scudder, 
was  born  in  Boston,  January  2,  1832.  The  two  Latin 
Schools,  Boston  and  Roxbury,  furnished  initial  classical 
training,  and  the  two  colleges,  Harvard  and  Williams, 
furnished  more  advanced  training,  from  the  latter  of  which 
he  graduated  in  1854.  After  the  usual  theological  course 
at  Andover  he  spent  a  year  in  teaching,  and  was  then 
installed  pastor  of  the  church  in  Kent,  Connecticut,  (1859). 
The  eight  years  in  that  relation  were  followed  by  nine¬ 
teen  of  similar  service  with  the  Congregational  Church 
in  Great  Barrington,  Massachusetts. 

Mr.  Scudder’s  health,  which  had  never  been  very 
firm,  failed  sensibly  a  year  before  his  decease ;  and  by 
the  kindness  of  a  parishioner  he  took  a  voyage  to  Europe 
in  the  hope  of  restoration.  But  disappointment  ensuing, 
he  died  in  a  hotel  one  week  after  return  to  New  York 
City,  being  unable  to  reach  his  home.  Some  of  Mr.  Scud- 


MINISTERIAL  RECRUITS. 


399 


der’s  sermons  were,  by  request  of  the  parish,  printed ;  one 
of  them,  which  was  begun  in  Rome,  had  for  its  text,  “  I 
must  work  while  the  day  lasts,  for  the  night  cometh 
wherein  no  man  can  work.”  That  unfinished  discourse 
was  read  at  his  funeral. 

8.  REV.  ALEXANDER  S.  TWOMBI.Y,  D.D. 

The  Eliot  Sunday  School  claimed  Dr.  Twombly  as 
one  of  its  pupils  for  a  time.  His  birth  in  Boston  dates 
from  March  14,  1832.  His  three  honorary  degrees  of 
A.  B.,  A.  M.,  and  D.D.  were  conferred  by  Yale  University, 
his  graduation  having  been  from  the  Boston  Latin  School 
(1849);  from  Yale  (1854);  from  Andover  Theological 
Seminary  (1858).  Dr.  Twombly’s  successive  pastorates 
were  in  connection  with  Presbyterian  churches  in  Cherry 
Valley  and  Albany,  New  York,  as  well  as  Stamford, 
Connecticut,  and  the  Winthrop  (Congregational)  Church, 
Charlestown,  Massachusetts,  the  latter  being  the  longest 
of  the  four  (1872-1891).  It  is  gratifying  to  think  of  him 
as  preaching  the  gospel  of  peace  on  the  ground  where 
his  great-grandfather,  Capt.  William  Perley,  led  the  Box- 
ford  Company  at  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  eight  of 
whose  fifty  men  were  lost  in  the  redoubt  under  Colonel 
Prescott.  The  name  of  this  ancestor  appears  on  the 
tablet  at  Charlestown  commemorative  of  that  bloody  day. 
Dr.  Twombly  also  ministered  (1894)  to  the  Central  Union 
Church,  Honolulu,  Hawaii,  as  acting  pastor.  In  1864,  he 
was  on  the  Christian  Commission,  serving  at  Fredericks¬ 
burg,  Cold  Harbor,  and  Washington. 


400 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


Among  his  literary  labors  are,  Life  of  Dr.  John  Lord ; 
Choir  Boy  of  York  Cathedral ;  Masterpieces  of  Michael 
Angelo  and  Milton ;  also  articles  in  the  Century  Maga¬ 
zine  and  Andover  Review.  He  has  been  a  contributor 
to  the  Congregationalist  and  the  Watchman. 

9.  REV.  FRANCIS  BROWN  PERKINS. 

Mr.  Perkins  was  born  in  Boston,  August  7,  1832. 
Upon  joining  the  church  in  1854,  one  feature  of  his  tes¬ 
timony  was  substantially  this :  Ascribing  the  great  spiritual 
change  in  his  case  to  the  Holy  Spirit,  evinced  by  simple 
reliance  on  Christ  as  Mediator  and  King,  by  a  glad  ac¬ 
ceptance  of  God’s  sovereignty,  and  by  new  tastes  and 
aims.  He  graduated  at  our  Latin  School,  at  Williams 
College,  and  in  1858  at  the  Andover  Theological  Semi¬ 
nary.  His  first  installation  as  pastor  was  in  Montague, 
Massachusetts.  After  service  as  a  chaplain  of  the  Tenth 
Massachusetts  Volunteers  (1863-1864),  and  also  as  agent 
of  the  Christian  Commission,  he  became  pastor  of  the 
Mather  Church,  now  Central  Church,  Jamaica  Plain,  and 
remained  six  years  in  that  connection  (1864-1870),  which 
was  followed  by  an  agency,  of  four  years,  in  behalf  of 
the  New  England  Branch  of  the  American  Tract  Society. 
A  pastorate  of  five  years  in  Stockbridge,  Massachusetts, 
and  pastorates  in  California  —  brief  on  account  of  poor 
health  —  have  been  held. 

Besides  contributing  to  papers  and  magazines,  Mr. 
Perkins  has  delivered  a  course  of  lectures  on  foreign 


MINISTERIAL  RECRUITS. 


401 


missions  to  students  of  the  Theological  Seminary  at 
Oakland,  California.  His  ideal  of  the  Christian  ministry 
—  its  spirit,  method,  sphere,  limitations,  expansions,  and 
achievements  —  is  found  in  Paul’s  condensed  statement, 
“  Separated  unto  the  Gospel  of  God.” 

IO.  REV.  EDWARD  ANDERSON. 

Second  son  of  Dr.  Rufus  Anderson,  and  born  in 
Boston,  November  19,  1833,  was  ordained  October  13, 
1858.  Mr.  Anderson  has  served  as  pastor  or  pulpit  sup¬ 
ply  in  not  less  than  fifteen  different  places,  as  follows: 

St.  Joseph,  Michigan;  Chicago,  Illinois;  Michigan 
City,  Indiana;  East  Cleveland  and  Ashtabula,  Ohio; 
Jamestown,  New  York;  Olney  and  Quincy,  Illinois; 
Cleveland,  Toledo,  and  Columbus,  Ohio;  Norwalk  and 
Danielsonville,  Connecticut;  and  again  in  Illinois;  also 
in  Quincy,  Massachusetts.  In  several  instances  the  period 
was  brief.  In  1862,  Mr.  Anderson  was  an  officer  in  the 
Union  Army. 

II.  REV.  ABBOTT  ELIOT  KITTREDGE,  D.  D. 

Dr.  A.  E.  Kittredge  was  born  in  Roxbury,  July  20, 
1834.  After  studying  at  the  Roxbury  Latin  School, 
Williams  College,  and  Andover  Theological  Seminary, 
Dr.  Kittredge  was  pastor  of  the  Winthrop  Church, 
Charlestown  (1859-1863);  spent  fifteen  months  in  Europe 
and  the  East;  preached  for  six  months  in  San  Francisco; 
was  in  charge  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  East  55  th 


402 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


Street,  New  York  (1865-1870);  and  of  the  Third  Presby¬ 
terian  Church,  Chicago  (1870-1886);  has  been  pastor  of 
the  Madison  Avenue  Reformed  Church,  New  York,  since 
1886. 

Dr.  Kittredge  states  that  his  grandmother  prayed 
him  into  the  ministry ;  and  that,  hard  as  its  duties  are, 
he  accounts  every  one  of  them  a  privilege.  Writing  on 
my  eighty-sixth  birthday,  Dr.  Kittredge  says :  “  I  want,  my 
dear  pastor,  to  express  to  you  how  much  I  am  indebted 
to  your  faithful  interest  in  me,  and  to  your  preaching  of 
the  Word.  I  remember  perfectly  when  you  came  to  Rox- 
bury,  remember  your  ordination,  and  I  can  recall  many 
of  your  sermons,  though  sometimes  I  confess  I  used  to 
get  my  head  in  mother’s  lap,  and  sleep  through  the  ser¬ 
vice.  I  can  recall  the  days  when  you  stayed  at  our 
house,  and  our  happiness  in  listening  to  your  words  as 
we  learned  to  know  and  love  you.  In  fact,  next  to  my 
father  and  mother,  you  have  done  more  for  my  spiritual 
character,  more  in  shaping  my  life,  than  any  one  else, 
and  I  wish  to  assure  you  of  my  gratitude,  and  of  my 
love  for  you,  and  my  earnest  prayers,  that  in  the  autumn 
of  your  earthly  life  there  may  be  always  an  increasing 
joy  and  peace,  as  you  walk  leaning  on  the  Beloved.” 

12.  JAMES  WINCHEL  GRUSH. 

Of  those  born  in  Roxbury  who  have  entered  the 
ministry,  Mr.  Grush  was  one;  and  between  1831,  the  year 
of  his  nativity,  and  the  fatal  paralysis  of  1896,  there  were 


MINISTERIAL  RECRUITS.  403 

sixty-five  years.  During  that  period  he  exhibited,  to  an 
unusual  degree,  amiability,  modesty,  and  fidelity  in  various 
relations.  But  at  seventeen  he  became  deeply  convinced 
of  heart-sinfulness,  and  the  need  of  regeneration  by  the 
Holy  Spirit;  desires  for  pardoning  grace  and  for  holiness 
were  awakened,  and  after  a  time  he  made  public  profes¬ 
sion  of  faith  in  Christ.  Preparatory  studies  were  pursued 
at  the  East  Windsor  Hill  Academy,  Connecticut,  and  he 
graduated  from  Williams  College,  1858.  For  pecuniary 
reasons  he  engaged  in  teaching  at  two  different  times, 
first  as  principal  of  the  academy  in  Spencertown,  New 
York,  and  afterwards  as  principal  of  a  similar  institution 
in  Canton  of  the  same  state  (1861  to  1864).  Having  in 
the  meantime  spent  two  years  at  the  Theological  Institute 
of  Connecticut,  he  was  ordained  at  North  Potsdam,  New 
York,  1864,  afterwards  becoming  pastor  at  Hopkinton 
(1866  to  1872);  then  successively  at  Chateau,  Cambria, 
and  Perry  Centre,  New  York.  Failure  of  health  in  1893 
obliged  him  to  give  up  ministerial  labors.  He  was  regis¬ 
trar,  for  eight  years  each,  of  the  Ontario  and  Wyoming 
Associations.  Large  delegations  from  his  former  parishes 
came  to  his  funeral,  and  their  presence  testified  with 
emphasis  to  his  worth.1 

Mr.  Grush  carried  through  life  a  warm  attachment 
for  the  Eliot  Church,  and  in  1892  took  special  pains  to 
be  present  at  the  Jubilee.  After  referring  on  that  occa¬ 
sion  to  the  fourteen  individuals  who  had  become  ministers 


1  Hartford  Seminary  Record.  Vol.  VII.  No.  4.  1897. 


404 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


of  the  Word,  he  closed  by  saying:  “Such  are  some  of  the 
trees  that  have  grown  from  seed  planted  by  the  teachings 
of  this  fruitful  pastorate.  Who  can  tell  what  a  power 
for  good  such  an  institution  as  Olivet  College  has  been, 
and  may  continue  to  be,  sending  forth  year  by  year 
young  men  and  women  to  be  ministers  and  teachers, 
physicians  and  missionaries,  each  of  whom  shall  become 
in  turn  a  center  of  influence  to  be  multiplied  indefinitely? 
Who  can  compute  the  influence  of  a  professorship  in  a 
theological  seminary,  or  of  a  single  pulpit,  in  building  up 
the  cause  of  Christ  in  the  world?  Yet  this  power  in  all 
these  varied  directions  has  been  exerted  by  this  church, 
in  this  pastorate,  through  these  standard-bearers  in  their 
respective  fields.  And  when  all  these  influences  shall 
have  been  exerted  to  their  utmost  limit,  and  when  the 
harvest  shall  come  and  all  the  sheaves  shall  be  gathered 
into  the  garner,  then  will  we  all  be  glad  indeed  to  have 
our  beloved  pastor  of  fifty  years  tell  us  what  is  his  ‘joy 
and  crown.’  But  then  we  shall  unite  in  singing  in  more 
perfect  harmony  than  is  possible  here,  ‘  Unto  him  that 
loved  us,  and  washed  us  from  our  sins  in  his  own  blood, 
and  hath  made  us  kings  and  priests  unto  God  and  his 
Father;  to  him  be  glory  and  dominion  forever  and  ever.’” 

13.  REV.  ISAAC  CURTIS  MESERVE,  D.D. 

The  Meserves  came  from  Jersey,  one  of  the  Channel 
Islands,  where  the  name  is  spelled  Messervy.  Roxbury 
was  Mr.  Meserve’s  birthplace,  March  27,  1847.  After  en- 


MINISTERIAL  RECRUITS. 


405 


joying  the  advantages  of  our  public  schools,  and  having 
joined  the  Eliot  Church  (1866),  he  graduated  at  the  Hart¬ 
ford  Theological  Seminary  (1869).  He  was  soon  called 
to  the  pastorate  of  the  Congregational  Church  in  Port¬ 
land,  Connecticut,  and  two  years  later  to  the  same  relation 
to  the  State  Street  Church,  Brooklyn,  New  York.  Instal¬ 
lation  as  pastor  of  the  Davenport  Church,  New  Haven, 
Connecticut,  took  place  in  1874,  where  he  remained  for 
twenty-three  years  and  over.  During  that  time  there  was 
an  accession  of  a  thousand  and  fifty  members,  a  majority 
of  them  on  confession  of  faith. 

Dr.  Meserve  is  now  in  charge  of  the  Craven  Hill 
Congregational  Church,  London,  connected  with  which  are 
important  members  in  public  life,  two  of  them  members 
of  Parliament.  It  is  a  gratifying  recollection  that  Mr. 
Meserve,  accompanied  by  his  father  and  a  brother,  called 
at  my  house  to  take  counsel  in  regard  to  his  preparing 
for  the  Christian  ministry.  He  is  probably  now  the  only 
son  of  New  England  who  holds  a  pastorate  in  Old 
England. 


14.  REV.  ALFRED  HENRY  HALL. 

Like  a  good  many  others,  Mr.  Hall’s  bright  and  use¬ 
ful  career  was  arrested  at  meridian.  Many  were  the 
friends  who  remarked  at  once,  How  mysterious !  He  was 
a  son  of  Deacon  Samuel  W.  Hall,  and  was  born  in  Boston 
March  7,  1845.  Our  Roxbury  Latin  School  gave  him 
preparation  for  college,  and  he  graduated  at  Harvard  with 


406 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


the  class  of  1867.  From  early  childhood  he  had  been  in 
the  habit  of  formally  repeating  prayers ;  but  during  college 
life  and  in  connection  with  the  earnest  appeal  of  a  fellow- 
student,  there  came  a  religious  crisis,  and  religious  exer¬ 
cises  took  on  a  new  character.  After  graduation  from 
college,  two  years  were  spent  as  tutor  of  a  young  man 
traveling  in  Europe.  A  visit  to  Egypt  and  Palestine 
having  been  made,  he  studied  at  Andover,  graduating 
from  the  Theological  Seminary  in  1873.  Then  came  a 
pastorate  of  four  years  with  the  First  Congregational 
Church,  Meriden,  Connecticut,  followed  by  a  similar  ser¬ 
vice  with  the  Centre  Church  of  that  city,  from  1880  to 
his  decease,  1891.  He  was  an  earnest,  energetic,  cheer¬ 
ful,  high-minded  man.  He  contributed  articles  to  religious 
periodicals,  such  as  the  Sunday  School  Times  and  the 
Bibliotheca  Sacra ,  as  well  as  to  secular  journals.  He  de¬ 
livered  lectures  before  the  Meriden  Scientific  Association. 

There  was  an  obvious  fitness  in  Mr.  Hall’s  being 
one  of  the  delegates  to  the  International  Congregational 
Council  in  London  (1891);  and  his  sermons  during  the 
visit  to  Plymouth,  England,  were  recognized  as  impres¬ 
sive.  Ancestral  element  as  well  as  local  memories  con¬ 
tributed  inspiration.  On  his  mother’s  side  Mr.  Hall  came 
of  Massachusetts  Plymouth  stock,  she  being  a  lineal  de¬ 
scendant  from  John  Alden.  Her  paternal  grandfather, 
Abraham  Knowlton,  was  an  officer  in  the  Revolutionary 
War  and  suffered  losses  by  the  battles  of  Bunker  Hill 
and  Lexington.  It  is  noteworthy  that  both  lines  of  Mr. 


MINISTERIAL  RECRUITS. 


407 


Hall’s  ancestry  have,  through  successive  generations,  fur¬ 
nished  deacons,  Sunday  School  superintendents,  and  active 
workers  in  Congregational  churches. 

15.  REV.  GEORGE  ROSS  HEWITT. 

He  is  one  of  a  considerable  number  who  have  been 
welcome  accessions  from  Scotland.  Glasgow  was  the  place 
of  his  nativity,  November  4,  1851,  though  it  was  not  till 
1869  that  he  came  to  Boston.  Here  he  found  not  only 
an  adopted  country,  but  adoption  into  the  household  of 
faith.  As  is  not  unfrequently  the  case,  new  spiritual  life 
brought  with  it  seemingly  new  intellectual  life,  a  waking 
up  of  the  mental  faculties,  which  was  scarcely  less  marked 
than  the  changed  direction  of  their  activity.  Works  of 
fiction  gave  place  to  religious  reading,  and  above  all  to 
the  Bible.  Some  of  the  books  read  had  quotations  and 
foot-notes  in  foreign  tongues,  which  served  to  tantalize 
and  at  the  same  time  to  awaken  a  strong  desire  for  a 
knowledge  of  Latin,  Greek,  and  French.  It  was  sug¬ 
gested  to  him  that  at  Phillips  Academy,  Andover,  he 
would  find  the  desired  instruction,  and  perhaps  he  might 
be  called  to  the  Christian  ministry.  Three  years  were 
accordingly  spent  there,  and  the  full  college  course  taken 
at  Harvard  College,  where  he  graduated  in  1883.  The 
usual  curriculum  at  the  Hartford  Theological  Seminary 
served  to  check  and  correct  an  obliquity  touching  lib¬ 
eralism,  so  called,  to  which,  perhaps,  all  are  liable  at 
Harvard. 


408 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


Mr.  Hewitt’s  first  installed  pastorate  was  in  North 
Bennington,  Vermont;  next  one  of  about  five  years,  in 
connection  with  the  First  Church,  West  Springfield ; 
and  in  1894  he  came  to  the  Calvinistic  Congregational 
Church  in  Fitchburg.  He  now  supplies  the  pulpit  of  the 
Eliot  Church,  Lowell,  Massachusetts.  “  With  my  whole 
heart,”  says  Mr.  Hewitt,  “  I  thank  God  that  I  am  where 
I  am,  and  it  is  all  by  his  grace  that  I  am  what  I  am.” 
He  has  not  ceased  being  thankful  that,  contrary  to  his 
purpose  at  the  outset  of  preparation  for  the  ministry,  in¬ 
stead  of  a  short  course  on  account  of  his  age,  he  was 
advised  and  followed  the  advice  to  take  the  more  usual 
and  completer  course  of  study,  which  he  would  recom¬ 
mend  to  all  under  similar  circumstances. 

It  may  be  added  that  it  was  the  writer’s  practice 
when  visiting  our  Sunday  School,  to  remind  teachers  that 
the  school  should  be  not  only  a  nursery  for  church  mem¬ 
bership,  but  also  for  the  Christian  ministry,  both  in  home 
and  foreign  service.  There  was  occasional  remembrance 
of  this  subject  in  public  prayer.  It  is  also  well  to  aid,  by 
loans  without  interest,  or  in  other  ways,  young  men  of 

promise,  who  seem  to  be  called  of  God  to  prepare  for 

the  sacred  office.  Less  than  a  year  ago  I  received  a  let¬ 
ter  from  Dr.  Edwards  A.  Park,  in  which  he  gives  the 

following  incident.  Referring  to  the  Rev.  William  Green- 
ough  of  Newton,  Massachusetts,  Dr.  Park  says:  “  Pro¬ 
fessor  Shedd  was  the  son  of  a  man  resident  in  Newton, 
and  Mr.  Greenough  interested  himself  in  sending  the 


MINISTERIAL  RECRUITS.  409 

boy  to  college,  and  he  defrayed  part  of  his  expenses  at 
college.  The  boy  was  named  William  Greenough  Thayer 
Shedd.  Professor  Stowe  was  the  son  of  a  farmer  in 
Natick,  near  Newton.  Mr.  Greenough  interested  him¬ 
self  in  Stowe’s  obtaining  an  education  with  the  hope  of 
his  becoming  a  minister.  The  three  Andover  professors 
were  conversing  together  when  Shedd  made  the  remark, 
‘  But  for  Father  Greenough  I  should  not  have  been  a 
minister.’  I  said,  ‘  But  for  Father  Greenough  /  should 
not  have  been  a  minister.’  Professor  Stowe  said,  ‘  How 
is  that  ?  It  was  Father  Greenough  who  made  me  a 
minister.’  ” 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 


MINISTERIAL  COLLEAGUES. 

I.  MRS.  HANNAH  C.  BOWLES  WOLFF. 

Eldest  daughter  of  Stephen  J.  Bowles,  and  born  in 
Machias,  Maine,  1827.  Her  family  Bible,  as  well  as  other 
sources  of  information,  traces  her  lineage  to  Sarah  Eliot 

—  a  granddaughter  of  John  Eliot,  the  Apostle  so  called, 

—  who  married  John  Bowles  of  Roxbury.  Mrs.  Wolff’s 
education  was  pursued  here;  and  like  a  good  many  other 
young  women,  she  studied  Latin  as  well  as  modern  lan¬ 
guages  and  history  with  Mr.  Charles  K.  Dillaway.  Atten¬ 
tion  was  also  given  to  painting  in  oils.  She  joined  the 
Eliot  Church  in  1850,  and  the  same  year  married  the 
Rev.  Philip  Wolff,  a  Genevese  clergyman,  who  came  to 
this  country  to  labor  among  the  French  people.  After 
a  year’s  residence  in  New  Orleans  her  doctor  insisted  that 
she  could  not  live  in  that  climate,  and  the  family  removed 
to  Montreal,  where  Mr.  Wolff  was  for  a  time  pastor  of  a 
church  and  had  a  missionary  agency  among  French 
Canadians.  In  1868  the  family  went  to  Europe  and  re¬ 
mained  two  years.  Upon  their  return  one  of  the  two 
sons  entered  Amherst  College,  and  the  mother  died  in 
Amherst,  June  17,  1871.  She  was  a  woman  of  marked 
excellence  of  character,  and  was  much  beloved  by  those 
who  knew  her.  That  son,  Dr.  Henry  A.  Wolff,  has  been 


MINISTERIAL  COLLEAGUES. 


411 


a  practicing  physician  at  Kimberley  and  elsewhere  in  South 
Africa.  The  other  son  is  a  professor  in  Cambridge  Uni¬ 
versity. 

The  Wolff  family  lived  in  the  Palatinate  and  Alsace. 
Mr.  Philip  Wolff’s  father  was  an  aid  and  military  secre¬ 
tary  to  Napoleon  in  the  earlier  period  of  his  campaigns, 
but  withdrew  and  settled  in  Geneva,  Switzerland,  where 
he  married;  and  with  Malan,  d’Aubigne,  and  other  Prot¬ 
estants,  was  devoted  to  the  interests  of  the  figlise  Libre. 

2.  MRS.  SARAH  P.  GULLIVER  PRATT. 

Mrs.  Pratt  is  a  descendant  of  Anthony  Gulliver,  who 
emigrated  to  New  England  and  settled  at  Braintree, 
Massachusetts,  in  1645.  A  noteworthy  incident  is  found 
in  the  annals  of  this  ancestry.  Her  paternal  grandfather, 
who  was  actively  engaged  throughout  the  Revolutionary 
War,  was  one  of  the  “  Minutemen  ”  in  the  battle  at  Lex¬ 
ington,  and  her  maternal  grandmother,  then  a  little  girl, 
was  occupied  all  that  day  in  carrying  food  and  coffee  to 
the  “  Minutemen,”  Gershom  Gulliver  one  of  them.  Some 
years  afterwards  she  married  Henry  Putnam,  a  nephew 
of  General  Israel  Putnam.  Readiness  to  serve  others  and 
to  serve  their  country  has  characterized  descendants  from 
that  union  of  families  which  were  thus  represented  on 
the  memorable  nineteenth  of  April,  1775.  Happily  such 
service  has  in  later  years  been,  for  the  most  part,  in  the 
line  of  peaceful  ministries.  Her  father,  Mr.  John  Gulli¬ 
ver,  a  Boston  merchant,  was  well  known  as  a  man  of 
great  kindliness  and  benevolence. 


412 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


Mrs.  Pratt’s  birth  and  education  were  in  Boston.  The 
family  having  removed  to  Philadelphia,  the  only  daughter, 
Sarah  Putnam,  there  married  Rev.  Dr.  Lewellyn  Pratt, 
who,  after  graduating  from  Williams  College  (1852),  taught 
the  deaf  in  Philadelphia  and  Washington.  He  became  a 
professor  in  the  Gallaudet  College  at  the  last  named  city; 
then  a  professor  in  Knox  College,  Illinois,  after  which  he 
was  installed  pastor  of  the  Congregational  Church  at 
North  Adams,  Massachusetts.  The  five  years  in  that 
position  were  followed  by  successive  services  as  professor 
of  rhetoric  in  Williams  College,  professor  of  practical 
theology  at  the  Hartford  Theological  Seminary,  and  pastor 
of  the  Broadway  Church,  Norwich,  Connecticut,  from  1888 
onward.  In  all  these  relations  Dr.  Pratt  has  had  an 
“  Help  meet  for  him,”  and  the  same  may  be  said  of  other 
ministers  whose  names  here  follow. 

3.  MRS.  SUSAN  M.  HUNTINGTON  PERKINS. 

Mrs.  Perkins,  who  came  of  a  long  line  of  honored 
Christian  ancestry,  including  John  Eliot  on  the  mother’s, 
side,  and  Governor  Trumbull,  of  Connecticut,  on  the 
father’s  side,  was  born  in  New  York  City,  June  22,  1835. 
When  the  family  removed  to  Boston  (1850)  she  attended 
the  private  school  of  Rev.  Solomon  Adams  for  a  time, 
and  afterwards,  for  three  or  four  years,  that  of  Mrs.  Prof. 
B.  B.  Edwards  in  Andover,  who  always  spoke  of  her 
with  the  greatest  interest.  She  was  baptized  in  infancy 
under  the  name  of  Susan  Mansfield ,  thus,.  reminding  of 


MINISTERIAL  COLLEAGUES. 


413 


her  maternal  grandmother,  wife  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hunting- 
ton,  pastor  of  the  Old  South  Church,  whose  memoir  was 
written  by  Dr.  Wisner.  In  traits  and  excellence  of  char¬ 
acter  Mrs.  Perkins  resembled  that  grandparent.  From 
early  childhood  she  exhibited  rare  amiability,  unselfishness, 
and  conscientiousness.  The  parents  had  no  occasion  to 
reprove  her  for  known  indulgence  in  wrongdoing,  and 
they  regarded  her  as  a  Christian  from  the  days  of  infancy. 
A  more  lovely  young  woman  never  joined  the  Eliot 
Church,  nor  perhaps  any  other  church. 

In  1859  she  became  the  wife  of  Rev.  Francis  B. 
Perkins,  who  held  pastorates  successively  in  Montague, 
Jamaica  Plain,  Grantville,  and  Stockbridge,  Massachusetts; 
also  at  different  places  in  California.  As  might  be  ex¬ 
pected,  she  was  discreet,  faithful,  and  earnest,  deeply 
interested  in  the  Woman’s  Board  of  Missions,  as  well  as 
other  benevolent  objects,  and  led  her  four  children  not 
only  to  reverence,  but  to  love  the  Lord’s  Day.  Final 
sickness  came  in  May,  1878,  and  she  could  say  most 
sincerely : 

“  I  know  not  the  way  I  am  going, 

But  well  do  I  know  my  guide.” 


4.  MRS.  ELIZABETH  G.  STRONG. 

The  only  daughter  of  Rev.  David  M.  Mitchell,  and 
was  born  in  Waldobofo,  Maine.  At  ten  years  of  age 
she  became  hopefully  a  Christian,  and  later  joined  the 
High  Street  Church  in  Portland,  then  in  charge  of  Dr- 


4H 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


John  Chickering.  The  family  removed  to  Roxbury  in 
1852,  and  became  members  of  the  Eliot  Church.  The 
pastor  and  committee  were  impressed  by  the  bright  and 
cheerful  tone  of  Miss  Mitchell’s  piety,  evidently  colored 
by  the  very  pleasing  qualities  of  native  character.  Among 
noteworthy  statements  made  at  the  time  were  such  as 
these:  “Increasingly  deeper  conviction  of  sin;”  “Enjoy¬ 
ment  of  self-denial  in  the  service  of  Christ.” 

As  the  wife  of  Dr.  E.  E.  Strong  she  had  great  enjoy¬ 
ment  and  usefulness  during  his  six  years’  pastorate  from 
1859  onward,  at  South  Natick;  and  after  that  the  twelve 
years’  pastorate  in  Waltham.  Then  came  Dr.  Strong’s 
valued  service  —  now  for  a  score  of  years  —  in  connection 
with  the  American  Board.  Mrs.  Strong  had  been  made 
a  life  member  of  the  Woman’s  Board  of  Missions  soon 
after  its  organization,  and  in  1880  was  elected  to  its  Ex¬ 
ecutive  Board,  of  which  she  is  a  vice-president.  As  one 
of  the  designated  correspondents,  she  has  come  into 
familiar  personal  relations  with  about  two-score  ladies 
in  foreign  lands. 

5.  MRS.  SARAH  ELIZABETH  BOARDMAN. 

Sarah  Elizabeth  Greene,  a  daughter  of  the  Rev. 
David  Greene,  was  eleven  years  of  age  when  the  family, 
owing  to  the  state  of  Mr.  Greene’s  health,  left  Roxbury 
(1849),  which  was  her  native  place.  The  destruction  of 
their  house  by  fire  at  Westborough,  three  years  later, 
occasioned  their  removal  to  Windsor,  Vermont,  where 


MINISTERIAL  COLLEAGUES. 


415 


her  first  church  connection  was  formed  (1853).  In  1861 
she  became  the  wife  of  Rev.  Samuel  W.  Boardman,  at 
that  time  Professor  of  Rhetoric  and  Metaphysics  in  Mid- 
dlebury  College.  The  next  year  he  was  called  to  the 
pastorate  of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church,  Auburn, 
New  York,  a  relation  which  continued  for  sixteen  years. 
Other  similar  relations  were  formed  elsewhere,  but  after 
serving  six  years  as  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  Stanhope,  New  Jersey,  Dr.  Boardman  resigned  (1889) 
to  become  President  of  Maryville  College,  Tennessee,  a 
position  still  held. 

Mrs.  Boardman  speaks  of  an  abiding  affection  for 
the  Eliot  Church  and  its  pastor;  and  among  other  things, 
mentions  a  certificate  of  having  learned  the  Assembly’s 
Shorter  Catechism  before  leaving  Roxbury. 

6.  MRS.  HANNAH  T.  FENN. 

A  daughter  of  Mr.  John  A.  McGaw,  who  was  promi¬ 
nent  among  the  early  members  of  our  church,  and  a 
grandson  of  one  of  the  signers  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence.  On  the  mother’s  side,  Mrs.  Fenn  is  a 
descendant  of  Major  Goffe,  for  whom  Goffstown,  New 
Hampshire,  was  named.  She  was  born  in  Boston ;  at¬ 
tended  Dr.  Bumstead’s  private  school  in  Roxbury,  and 
afterwards  (1848)  the  Spingler  Institute  in  New  York.  In 
1862  came  her  marriage  to  Dr.  William  H.  Fenn,  a  native 
of  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  a  graduate  of  Yale  College 
and  Andover  Theological  Seminary,  whose  first  pastorate 


416 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


was  one  of  eight  years  with  the  Franklin  Street  Church, 
Manchester,  New  Hampshire,  followed  by  his  service  in 
Portland,  Maine,  as  pastor  of  the  High  Street  Church, 
from  1866  to  the  present  time.  His  immediate  predeces¬ 
sor,  Dr.  Chickering,  was  in  the  same  connection  for  thirty 
years,  while  Dr.  Fenn  has  already  remained  there  for  a 
third  of  a  century  —  pastor  and  people  an  ensample  all 
too  rare  at  this  day. 

Since  fifteen  years  of  age,  Mrs.  Fenn  has  taught  in 
Sunday  Schools,  the  first  being  a  German  Mission  School 
in  New  York.  Dr.  John  Hall  of  New  York,  finding  her 
still  with  a  class  in  Portland,  said,  “  I  am  glad,  Mrs. 
Fenn,  to  see  you  in  your  proper  place,  where  you  belong.” 
In  childhood,  at  the  Eliot  Church  she  heard  a  good  deal 
about  foreign  missions ;  and  sitting  beside  her  father  at 
church,  was  not  a  little  interested  to  see  him  sign  slips 
for  subscription  to  that  cause  when  they  were  passed 
around.  For  a  quarter  of  a  century  Mrs.  Fenn  has  been 
the  valued  President  of  the  Maine  Branch  of  the  Woman’s 
Board,  and  is  also  President  of  the  Board  of  Managers  of 
the  Portland  Orphan  Asylum,  and  holds  official  positions 
in  other  connections. 

7.  MRS.  MARY  ANDERSON  STREET. 

Daughter  of  Rev.  Dr.  Rufus  Anderson,  Roxbury 
being  the  native  place  (1838);  educated  at  the  Roxbury 
High  School  and  the  Young  Ladies’  School  of  Miss 
Hannah  Lyman,  Montreal,  Canada;  and  united  with  the 


MINISTERIAL  COLLEAGUES. 


417 


Eliot  Church  in  1858.  Though  religiously  trained,  there 
had  been  no  real  love  of  religious  duties  till  there  came 
a  great  change,  attributed  to  the  Spirit  and  grace  of  God. 
Novels  then  lost  their  charm,  the  Bible  became  a  new 
book,  and  service  rendered  to  the  Master  became  a  joy. 

As  the  wife  of  Rev.  George  E.  Street  she  has  had 
acquaintance  with  pastoral  life,  first  in  Wiscasset,  Maine 
(1864-1871),  and  then  in  Exeter,  New  Hampshire,  from 
1871  onward.  Service  in  the  same  connection  for  nearly 
thirty  years  is  one  of  comparatively  rare  occurrence  at  the 
close  of  this  nineteenth  century.  Mrs.  Street  holds  the 
pen  of  a  ready  writer.  Among  published  productions, 
and  before  marriage,  she  wrote,  after  accompanying  her 
parents  on  their  official  visit  to  the  Pacific,  Scenes  in  the 
Hawaiian  Islands  and  California.  Recently  appeared,  The 
Street  Genealogy ,  a  work  of  over  five  hundred  pages,  with 
several  illustrations,  being  a  history  of  Rev.  Nicholas 
Street  —  one  of  the  founders  of  Taunton,  Massachusetts, 
and  of  New  Haven,  Connecticut  —  and  his  descendants, 
as  well  as  others  bearing  the  same  name. 

8.  MRS.  JANE  PERKINS  CHILDS. 

Mrs.  Childs  is  of  the  old  New  England  stock,  a 
descendant  from  Quartermaster  Perkins,  who  came  with 
his  father  and  brother  to  Boston  in  1629.  They  were 
fellow-passengers  with  Roger  Williams.  From  that  day 
to  the  present  the  head  of  each  family  in  direct  descent 
has  been  a  church  member.  Her  parents  were  Benjamin 


418 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


and  Jane  Lawrence  Perkins,  prominent  members  of  the 
Eliot  Church;  and  Boston  was  her  native  place  (1829). 
Her  public  profession  of  faith  in  Christ  was  in  1845.  At 
the  time  of  her  marriage  to  the  Rev.  Thomas  S.  Childs, 
he  was  pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  in  Hart¬ 
ford,  Connecticut;  then  professor  in  the  Hartford  Theo¬ 
logical  Seminary  (1871-1878) ;  afterwards  he  became  pastor 
of  the  First  Congregational  Church,  Norwalk.  Later  he 
entered  the  Episcopal  Church,  and  by  re-ordination  entered 
its  ministry.  Their  residence  is  in  Washington,  District 
of  Columbia,  and  Dr.  Childs  superintends  the  home 
missions  of  that  diocese. 

9.  MRS.  CAROLINE  FORBES  PENNIMAN. 

Younger  daughter  of  Edwin  and  Charlotte  S.  Forbes, 
and  Roxbury  the  place  of  her  nativity.  She  became  the 
wife  of  Rev.  H.  M.  Penniman,  who  graduated  at  Brown 
University;  and  then  at  Andover  Theological  Seminary 
(1882).  He  was  ordained,  and  installed  pastor  of  the 
First  Church,  East  Derry,  New  Hampshire,  and  after¬ 
wards  ministered  to  the  Tabernacle  Church,  Chicago, 
Illinois,  and  to  the  Congregational  Church  of  Keokuk, 
Iowa.  In  1895  he  received  appointment  to  the  professor¬ 
ship  of  Christian  Evidences  in  Berea  College,  Kentucky. 
Mrs.  Penniman  has  met  with  the  experiences  of  sickness, 
and  other  trials,  as  well  as  the  enjoyments  usually  found 
in  such  colleagueship  with  the  ministry. 


MINISTERIAL  COLLEAGUES.  419 

IO.  MRS.  ANGENETTE  F.  TINKHAM  HAMILTON. 

It  is  often  said  that  a  pastor  should  never  wed  within 
the  limits  of  his  parish.  If  all  such  cases  resulted  as  did 
that  of  Dr.  B.  F.  Hamilton,  we  should  hear  the  converse 
maxim  —  let  the  minister  always  look  within  his  church 
for  a  wife.  A  five  years’  acquaintance  brought  this  happy 
union  about  on  the  twenty-first  of  June,  1876.  Mrs. 
Hamilton,  the  only  child  of  Capt.  Benjamin  C.  and 
Cynthia  Tinkham,  was  born  in  Middleborough,  1852, 
and  for  the  remaining  twenty-one  years  of  Dr.  Hamilton’s 
pastorate  approved  herself  as  the  devoted  and  discreet 
wife,  mother,  neighbor,  and  church  member,  faithful  and 
efficient  in  various  relations  and  local  offices.  She  pub¬ 
licly  confessed  Christ  at  the  same  time  as  her  father,  join¬ 
ing  the  Village  Church,  Medway  (1868),  and  uniting  with 
the  Eliot  Church  by  letter,  at  the  same  time  as  both 
parents,  March  3,  1871,  eight  months  before  the  close  of 
that  period  which  has  been  specially  under  review  in 
these  sketches.  Domestic  life  has  not  been  free  from 
trials  in  the  line  of  ill-health  and  bereavements;  but  paro¬ 
chial  life  has  been  unusually  free  from  criticism. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 


YOUNG  WOMEN. 

It  is  impossible  to  speak  of  them  without  deep  emo¬ 
tion —  the  group  was  so  large,  so  lovely,  and  nearly  all  of 
them  exhibiting  such  well-defined  marks  of  divine  grace. 
More  tears  were  probably  shed  over  their  removal  than 
that  of  any  other  equal  number  belonging  to  any  different 
class.  We  followed  them,  one  by  one,  down  to  the  valley, 
some  of  them  faltering  at  times  a  little,  yet  in  the  main 
firm,  as  they  found  and  leaned  on  the  Beloved.  How 
often  have  we  looked  over  to  the  other  side,  and  seen 
them  walking  along  the  banks  of  the  river  of  life  —  their 
forms  dilated  to  a  heavenly  stature,  every  movement  in¬ 
stinct  with  celestial  grace,  every  feature  radiant  with  holy 
delight !  What  strains  of  heavenly  harmony  we  seemed 
to  hear  from  them !  Mothers  in  Israel  have  stepped  forth 
to  greet  them.  Rachel,  long  since  comforted,  and  her 
tears  all  gone,  has  welcomed  them.  To  the  Elder  Brother 
they  have  kneeled,  saying,  “  All  hail !  ” 

Among  them  was  many  a  Mary  who  had  chosen  the 
good  part.  Now  and  then  a  sudden  summons  was  heard, 
“  The  Master  has  come,  and  calleth  for  thee.”  Several 
times  I  was  reminded  of  a  daughter  of  the  excellent 
Bishop  Lowth,  presiding  at  the  tea-table,  and  as  she 
placed  a  cup  on  the  salver,  said  to  the  waiting-maid, 
“  Take  this  to  the  Bishop  of  Bristol,”  when  her  hand 


YOUNG  WOMEN. 


421 


dropped,  and  she  instantly  expired.  One  such,  for  in¬ 
stance,  was  Elizabeth  F.  Morse,  who  left  us  suddenly 
(July  6,  1851),  at  twenty  years  of  age.  She  had  not  put 
off  the  one  thing  needful.  It  was  noticeable  that  for  a 
month  previous  she  often  sang  the  lines: 

“What  is  life?  ’T  is  but  a  vapor; 

Soon  it  vanishes  away; 

Life  is  but  a  dying  taper; 

O  my  soul,  why  wish  to  stay? 

Why  not  spread  thy  wings  and  fly 
Straight  to  yonder  world  of  joy!” 

It  was  on  a  bright  day  and  amidst  a  profusion  of 
roses  that  she  fell  asleep.  In  the  course  of  the  two  pre¬ 
ceding  months  six  from  the  circle  of  our  young  ladies 
had  fallen  beneath  the  great  mower’s  scythe. 

I.  MARIA  ANTONIA  MARTINA  ECHEVERRIA. 

She  was  born  at  Matanzas,  island  of  Cuba,  1820. 
Her  father  was  a  native  of  Florence,  Italy,  and  her 
mother,  Sarah  Newell,  was  a  native  of  Marblehead,  Mas¬ 
sachusetts.  At  six  years  of  age  she  came  to  New 
England,  and  remained  here  twelve  years,  being  educated 
in  part  at  Bradford  Academy.  She  made  public  profes¬ 
sion  of  her  Christian  faith,  and  united  with  this  church 
at  eighteen.  After  returning  to  her  island  home  she 
twice  revisited  New  England. 

Miss  Echeverria  was  a  brilliant  young  woman,  sprightly, 
and  with  a  countenance  peculiarly  pleasing.  But  pulmo- 


422 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


nary  consumption  pays  no  regard  to  youth  or  beauty,  and 
in  1844  (July  19)  this  young  friend  died  at  the  Cafatal 
San  Antonio.  From  the  ranks  of  our  young  women  she 
was  the  first  to  lead  the  way  to  “the  land  that  is  very 
far  off.”  It  is  sad  to  think  that  the  booming  of  hostile 
guns  in  our  late  war  should  have  been  heard  over  her 
resting-place  in  the  cemetery  of  Carnarisca. 

2.  CHARLOTTE  H.  BAKER 

Was  one  of  the  most  faithful  and  devoted  of  our 
Christian  young  women.  Her  own  decline  began  soon 
after  the  very  sudden  decease  of  her  sister,  Mrs.  Dickin¬ 
son.  Months  of  increasing  debility  and  suffering  passed 
before  the  time  for  final  farewells  came  (1848).  She 
prayed  aloud  for  the  family,  for  other  friends,  —  mentioning 
each  by  name,  —  for  her  Sunday  School  class,  her  pastor, 
a  perishing  world,  and  last  of  all,  for  herself.  In  clear, 
sweet  strains  she  sang  the  entire  hymn : 


“I’ll  praise  my  Maker  with  my  breath; 

And  when  my  voice  is  lost  in  death, 

Praise  shall  employ  my  nobler  powers.” 

Just  as  flesh  and  heart  were  failing  she  said  to  her 
class,  who  had  come  in  a  body  to  take  leave :  “  This  is 
to  me  a  solemn  day.  I  am  expecting  every  day  to  launch 
into  eternity.  The  world  seems  of  little  value  ;  my  account 
is  closed  up.  My  sorrows  here  are  over.  What  could 
I  do  now  without  Christ!  I  wish  all  my  class  to  know 


YOUNG  WOMEN. 


423 


that  I  die  a  poor,  helpless  sinner,  looking  to  the  cross  of 
Christ  as  my  only  hope. 

“  ‘  In  my  hand  no  price  I  bring, 

Simply  to  thy  cross  I  cling.’ 

“  I  have  not  been  faithful  to  you,  and  yet  I  have 
loved  you  and  have  labored  and  prayed  for  you,  and  dur¬ 
ing  the  last  year  have  been  more  than  ever  anxious  for 
the  salvation  of  your  souls.  I  consecrated  myself  to  God 
to  do  everything  for  you  if  you  would  only  become  Chris¬ 
tians,  and  I  had  hoped  to  live  to  see  you  such.  I  warn 
you  not  to  put  off  the  time  of  repentance  for  a  sick-bed. 
It  is  a  poor  place  to  prepare  for  death.  I  shall  not  meet 
you  here  again.  When  you  next  look  upon  me  I  shall 
be  cold  in  death.  But  I  expect  to  meet  you  at  the  bar 
of  God,  there  to  render  up  my  account.” 

3.  EMELINE  SILSBEE 
AND 

4.  CHARLOTTE  R.  STEELE. 

Within  one  week  in  October,  1848,  two  young  ladies, 
Miss  Emeline  Silsbee  and  Miss  Charlotte  R.  Steele, 
finished  their  course.  Each  was  the  victim  of  the  same 
fatal  disease  that  baffled  the  skill  of  physicians  and  the 
assiduity  of  friends.  To  the  former,  two  years,  with  their 
wearisome  days  and  nights,  were  appointed.  Patient  Chris¬ 
tian  endurance  continued  through  the  whole.  Just  as 
night,  a  dark  and  stormy  night,  closed  in,  she  fell  asleep. 


424 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


The  second  of  those  mentioned  above,  whose  decease 
was  so  nearly  simultaneous,  came  to  us  bringing  decided 
symptoms  of  the  same  malady.  She  belonged  to  an  ex¬ 
cellent  religious  family;  and  with  clearly  intelligent  trust, 
she  committed  herself,  for  time  and  for  eternity,  to  the 
gracious  Saviour.  A  written  confession  of  her  faith  was 
communicated  to  the  church,  which  welcomed  her  to  its 
fellowship.  The  next  Lord’s  Day,  in  an  upper  room, 
about  the  same  number  being  present  as  when  Christ 
instituted  the  supper,  she  received  the  emblems  of  his 
body  and  blood.  The  very  next  morning  she  rose,  as  we 
trust,  to  the  personal  presence  of  our  glorified  Redeemer, 
to  exclaim,  “  Rabboni !  ” 

In  each  of  those  upper  rooms  I  caught  from  the 
faint  and  labored  breathing  a  message  for  surviving  young 
acquaintances.  The  marble  lips  bade  me  tell  them :  “  The 
sick-bed  is  no  place  to  prepare  for  death;  it  is  a  serious 
thing  to  live;  it  is  a  dreadful  thing  to  live  far  from  God, 
and  to  reject  the  great  salvation.  Oh,  the  love  of  God! 
Oh,  the  love  of  Jesus!” 

Each  of  the  two  upper  rooms  was  apparently  quite 
on  the  verge  of  heaven.  I  seemed  to  go  hand  in  hand 
with  those  choice  young  friends  to  the  gate  of  Paradise. 
As  the  gate  opened  and  they  passed  in,  I  heard  a  voice 
saying,  “  Come  and  see !  ”  So  have  I  seen  a  bird  escape 
from  its  cage,  mount  upwards,  and  carol,  and  clap  its 
wings  in  joyful  freedom. 


YOUNG  WOMEN. 


425 


5.  ELIZA  HILL  ANDERSON. 

Her  features,  her  mental  endowments,  and  her  traits 
of  character  were  sure  to  attract  attention  and  to  awaken 
an  interest  more  than  usual.  It  was  in  the  summer  of 
1847  Aat  she  made  public  profession  of  religious  faith. 
It  is  not  often  that  a  miss  of  sixteen  gives  such  decided 
testimony  as  she  did.  Though  characteristically  modest, 
she  said  in  the  presence  of  our  church  officers  and  in  a 
clear,  firm  tone,  “  My  chief  aim  is  to  serve  God ;  My 
desire  to  become  holy  in  heart  and  life  is  greater  than 
any  other.”  A  little  more  than  two  years  later  and  close 
upon  her  eighteenth  anniversary  of  birth,  she  joined  the 
assembly  where  the  refrain  of  social  worship  is,  “  Holy, 
holy,  holy,  Lord  God  Almighty !  ” 

The  tree  which  she  planted  in  front  of  the  house, 
and  which  the  family  called  “  Eliza’s  tree,”  now  casts  its 
shadow  into  the  upper  room,  where  she  gradually  wasted 
under  irremediable  phthisis,  and  at  length  closed  her  eyes 
on  the  12th  of  December,  1849.  I  have  seldom,  during 
the  last  fifty  years,  passed  under  that  graceful  tree  with¬ 
out  looking  up  at  it  as  an  emblem  of  the  charming 
daughter  who  planted  it  there. 

Conversations  with  her  on  many  sacred  subjects,  with 
reference  to  many  individuals,  led  me  the  next  day  follow¬ 
ing  her  funeral,  in  a  sermon  on  the  “Raising  of  Jairus’ 
Daughter,”  to  say  to  Eliza’s  companions: 

“  I  cannot  close,  young  ladies,  without  addressing  a 
word  specially  to  you.  God  speaks  to  you.  He  spoke 


426 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


to  you  last  week ;  he  has  been  often  speaking  to  you. 
During  the  time  of  my  pastorship,  as  yet  brief,  it  has 
fallen  to  me  already  to  attend  the  funerals  of  fourteen 
of  your  number.  I  must  press  upon  your  attention  the 
fact  that,  once  dead,  you  are  to  rise  again  —  that  you,  you » 
my  young  friends,  are  to  rise  again;  that  each  of  you  will 
hear  Christ’s  omnipotent  Talitha  cumi  sounding  through 
the  world  of  spirits,  for  ‘  All  that  are  in  their  graves 
shall  hear  his  voice  and  shall  come  forth.’  That  maid 
of  Capernaum  had  two  seasons  of  probation ;  you  will 
have  but  one.  When  you  come  forth  it  will  not  be  in 
your  present  homes.  ‘  After  death  is  the  judgment’ 
*  Some  shall  wake  to  shame  and  everlasting  contempt.’ 
Ponder  it,  ye  gay,  ye  thoughtless  ones,  ponder  it.  A 
short  time  before  her  death,  Princess  Amelia  penned 
these  lines: 

“  Unthinking,  idle,  wild,  and  young, 

I  laughed,  and  danced,  and  taught,  and  sung, 

And,  proud  of  health,  of  freedom  vain, 

Dreamed  not  of  sorrows,  care  or  pain, 

Concluding  in  these  hours  of  glee, 

That  all  the  world  was  made  for  me. 

But  when  the  hour  of  trial  came, 

When  sickness  shook  my  trembling  frame, 

When  folly’s  gay  pursuits  were  o’er, 

And  I  could  dance  and  sing  no  more, 

It  then  occurred  how  sad  ’t  would  be, 

Were  this  world  only  made  for  me.” 

Alas,  that  it  had  not  occurred  to  her  before!  Turn 
now  to  the  testimony  of  an  accomplished  daughter  of 


YOUNG  WOMEN. 


427 


Baron  Cuvier :  “  I  experience,”  she  said,  “  a  pleasure  in 
reading  the  Bible  which  I  have  never  felt  before.  It  at¬ 
tracts  and  fixes  me  to  an  inconceivable  degree,  and  I  seek 
sincerely  there,  and  only  there,  the  truth.  When  I  com¬ 
pare  the  calm  and  the  peace  which  the  smallest  and 
imperceptible  grain  of  faith  gives  to  the  soul,  with  all 
that  the  world  can  give  of  joy  and  happiness,  I  feel  that 
the  least  in  the  kingdom  of  Heaven  is  a  hundred  times 
more  blessed  than  the  greatest  and  most  elevated  men 
of  the  world.” 

Hers  is  not  a  voice  from  a  convent  or  an  almshouse; 
it  is  not  the  language  of  one  whom  the  world  had  dis¬ 
appointed  and  who  seeks  consolation  from  religion  because 
every  other  source  of  happiness  has  been  cut  off.  No,  it 
is  the  experience  of  a  young  lady  at  the  very  center  of 
all  that  could  dazzle  the  mind  and  fascinate  the  imagina¬ 
tion  in  the  gayest,  the  most  brilliant  city  of  Europe  ; 
whom  the  world,  in  the  most  alluring  forms,  was  per¬ 
petually  assailing  and  seeking  to  captivate. 

6.  MARCIA  EVELINA  ATKINS. 

Peculiarly  amiable  and  lovely,  she  had  from  child¬ 
hood  maintained  secret  prayer  habitually,  and,  so  far  as 
outward  life  furnished  evidence,  would  be  pronounced  a 
suitable  candidate  for  church  membership.  But  when  she 
came  to  scan  herself  seriously,  she  found,  as  such  not  in¬ 
frequently  find,  that  she  had  a  rebellious  heart ;  that  her 
sins  were  numberless ;  that  she  had  no  real  love  to  God 
and  no  true  penitence.  The  broken  and  contrite  spirit 


428 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


followed,  with  entire  reconciliation  to  the  character  and 
ways  of  God  and  a  trustful  looking  unto  Jesus,  the  author 
and  finisher  of  our  faith.  Two  years  of  church  life  wit¬ 
nessed  sanctified  amiability.  But  she  was  obliged  to 
relinquish  'teaching  in  the  Sunday  School,  and  surrender 
to  a  wasting  disease  (1854).  Spiritual  experiences,  how¬ 
ever,  grew  stronger  and  stronger.  “You  know,”  she  re¬ 
marked,  “what  a  very  great  dread  I  have  always  had  of 
the  grave,  and  of  everything  connected  with  it,  apart 
from  the  solemnity  of  death  itself.  That  is  entirely  taken 
from  me,  and  although  I  have  so  much  to  live  for,  and 
should  be  so  happy  in  life,  yet  the  grave  looks  pleasant 
to  me,  and  if  God  sees  it  to  be  best,  I  am  perfectly  will¬ 
ing  to  go.”  She  spoke  of  dying  as  one  would  of  going 
on  a  journey.  Her  cheerfulness,  in  view  of  all  that  re¬ 
lated  to  death  and  the  grave,  was  the  more  remarkable, 
as  in  health  she  could  never  visit  the  cemetery  without 
shuddering  at  the  thought  of  being  interred  there.  But 
she  could,  at  length,  say  to  her  mother,  “  I  want  you  to 
come  often  to  my  grave,  and  let  your  visits  to  it  be 
cheerful,  not  sad ;  make  it  a  resort  in  your  happy  hours ; 
do  not  come  when  you  are  sad.”  “  Why  do  you  weep  ?  ” 
she  inquired ;  “  I  am  going  home.” 

7.  ANN  MARIA  BOND. 

It  was  in  the  early  summer  of  1853  that  this  daughter 
of  Mr.  Richard  Bond  —  a  prominent  member  of  the 
church  —  at  the  age  of  twenty,  bade  good-by  to  the  family 
and  to  me.  She  was  the  victim  of  a  lingering  con- 


YOUNG  WOMEN. 


429 

sumption,  during  which  the  evidence  of  a  saving  change 
of  heart  came  to  light  with  more  than  usual  clearness. 
To  all  appearance,  penitent  conviction  of  sin  was  un¬ 
mistakable,  as  also  was  justifying  faith  in  Jesus  Christ, 
followed  by  cheerful  submission  to  the  divine  appoint¬ 
ment  of  sickness  and  early  death.  She  had  had  excel¬ 
lent  home  instruction  as  well  as  in  the  Bible  Class  of 
Mr.  J.  S.  Ropes. 

Lord’s  Day  morning,  before  her  departure,  she  in¬ 
quired  about  the  probable  time  of  that  event,  and  was 
told  that  the  physician  thought  it  might  come  at  any 
time  in  the  near  future.  “  Then,”  said  she,  “  I  may  spend 
the  next  Sabbath  in  heaven.”  Her  last  words  were, 
“  Dear  father,  precious  mother,  precious,  precious  Saviour !  ” 

8.  CAROLINE  W.  BOND. 

Died  suddenly  August  20,  1857.  She  had  been  visit¬ 
ing  friends  at  Conway,  her  father’s  native  place;  returned 
home  of  a  Wednesday,  and  the  next  day  entered  the 
home  on  high.  Miss  Bond  was  an  unusually  conscien¬ 
tious  young  woman,  free  from  frivolities,  adhering  firmly 
to  principle,  punctual  to  engagements,  and  respected  as 
a  consistent  Christian  by  all  who  knew  her.  She  was 
one  about  whom  criticism  never  lisped.  To  her  Sunday 
School  class  she  was  noticeably  devoted.  The  last  time 
that  I  saw  her  she  was  on  the  way  to  the  Young  Ladies’ 
Prayer  Meeting. 

From  near  the  earliest  invasion  of  disease,  typhoid 


43° 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


fever,  her  mind  wandered.  Just  before  spasms  began  she 
broke  out :  “  Glory  to  God  in  the  highest !  Peace  on 
earth;  good  will  to  men  —  forever  and  ever!”  The  last 
use  that  she  made  of  the  pen  at  Conway  was  to  copy 
Mrs.  Brownings  impressive  hymn  on  the  words,  “  So  he 
giveth  his  beloved  sleep.”  Against  the  following  stanza 
she  drew  a  heavy  pencil-mark  in  the  margin: 

“  And  friends,  dear  friends !  when  it  shall  be 
That  this  low  breath  is  gone  from  me,  — 

When  round  my  bier  ye  come  to  weep, 

Let  one,  most  loving  of  you  all, 

Say  —  ‘Not  a  tear  must  o’er  her  fall,’  — 

‘  He  giveth  his  beloved  sleep.’  ” 


9.  ANN  BELL. 

A  member  of  Mr.  Walley’s  Bible  Class,  who  died 
May  2,  1858.  Her  funeral  was  from  the  church.  Two 
years  before  that  she  stood  where  the  casket  then  stood, 
publicly  professing  faith  in  the  atoning  and  risen  Redeemer. 
Her  recorded  testimony  was  that  she  had  no  merit  and 
no  hope  except  through  the  interposition  of  Jesus  Christ; 
that  the  thought  of  him  was  peculiarly  delightful  to  her; 

that  her  desire  was  that  others  should  come  to  him,  and 

find  the  same  blessings  she  had  found ;  that  the  Bible 

was  the  choicest  of  books ;  that  daily  prayer  was  her 

practice  and  her  pleasure.  Her  Christian  character  and 
course  were  unobtrusive  and  unexceptionable.  In  sickness 
there  were  neither  raptures  nor  fears,  but  she  expressed 


YOUNG  WOMEN. 


43  1 

complete  acquiescence  in  the  will  of  God,  and  maintained 
an  abiding,  quiet  trust  while  sinking  gently  asleep  in 
Jesus.  And  who  are  they  “which  sleep  in  Jesus?”  They 
who  have  believed  in  him  to  the  saving  of  their  souls;: 
who  were  justified  through  him,  affianced  to  him,  vitally 
united  to  him,  and  assimilated  to  him.  The  body  being 
left  in  the  great  dormitory  of  earth,  they  pass  beyond  the 
portal  of  the  grave,  and  bidding  good  night  to  all  this 
side,  they  hear  a  good  morning  the  other  side.  Dying  is 
but  a  dim,  brief  trance  between  time  and  eternity.  Worry, 
and  weariness,  and  dreams  are  at  an  end. 

As  the  first  rays  of  a  resurrection-day  light  began  to 
brighten  the  firmament,  amidst  the  solemn  stillness  of 
that  hallowed  dawn,  broken  only  by  the  sweet  matins  of 
May  birds,  Miss  Bell  awoke,  we  doubt  not,  in  the  heav¬ 
enly  home. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 


HONORABLE  WOMEN. 

Of  these  not  a  few.  It  is  to  be  noticed  that  at  the 
dawn  of  the  present  dispensation  the  first  two  visions  of 
angels  were  in  the  experience  of  women ;  that  the  first 
two  announcements  of  Christ’s  resurrection  were  made  to 
women,  and  that  after  he  left  the  tomb  his  first  two 
appearances  were  also  to  women.  In  the  fourth  century 
of  our  era  Libanius,  though  an  enemy  of  Christians, 
exclaimed,  “  Ah !  what  wonderful  women  there  are  among 
the  Christians  !  ”  With  no  less  emphasis  may  the  same 
be  said  in  our  day.  In  the  Eliot  Church,  as  in  most 
other  churches,  the  female  membership  is  in  the  majority. 
Such  was  the  case  at  first ;  of  the  fifty-one  original  mem¬ 
bers  only  twenty  were  males.  In  the  year  1899  the 
female  members  of  all  Congregational  churches  in  our 
country  numbered  well  on  towards  twice  as  many  as  the 
male  members,  416,041  against  212,193.  In  this  church 
the  predominance  spoken  of  seemed  the  more  noteworthy, 
as  the  parish  was  by  day  chiefly  a  parish  of  women,  little 
business  being  done  here,  and  the  men,  with  few  excep¬ 
tions,  being  in  town  between  the  morning  and  evening 
meals. 

In  previous  chapters,  which  speak  of  missionaries, 
ministerial  colleagues,  artists,  and  deaf-mutes,  are  those 
belonging  alike  to  the  present  category.  Others  not  yet 


HONORABLE  WOMEN. 


433 


mentioned  fall  into  representative  groups.  Here  may  be 
found  the  prayerfulness  of  Hannah,  the  devotedness  of 
Ruth,  the  discreetness  of  Abigail,  the  devout  waiting  of 
Anna,  and  the  self-forgetting  fidelity  of  Mary.  The  Lydia 
at  prayer  meetings  and  the  Dorcas  of  good  works  are 
here. 


I.  MRS.  MEHITABLE  GROZER  KITTREDGE. 

Early  efficiency  and  growth  of  the  church  were  due 
in  no  small  degree  not  only  to  the  senior  deacon,  Mr. 
Kittredge,  but  also  to  Mrs.  Kittredge.  Her  untiring 
energy  and  cheeriness  helped  greatly  to  animate  and 
brighten  the  enterprise.  She  was  born  in  Truro,  Barn¬ 
stable  County,  February  28,  1803.  Her  girlhood  was 
one  of  gaiety;  but  the  first  general  revival  in  Park  Street 
Church  (1823),  which  added  about  ninety  converts  to  its 
number,  recorded  her  and  two  of  her  sisters  among  them. 
Character  and  life  took  on  a  new  form  ;  and  thence  on¬ 
ward  the  kingdom  of  our  Lord  had  a  large  place  in  her 
heart  and  her  activities. 

When  the  Eliot  Church  was  organized,  the  council  — 
pastors  and  delegates  —  were  entertained  at  her  home, 
where  thenceforward  a  large  hospitality  was  maintained. 
Theological  students  were  frequent  guests,  among  whom, 
for  weeks,  was  Henry  Lyman,  afterwards  one  of  the  two 
missionary  martyrs  in  Sumatra.  Ministers  and  missionaries 
often  found  welcome  there.  Many  a  committee  meeting, 
many  a  prayer  meeting,  many  a  Dorcas  gathering  were 
held  there,  as  well  as  the  Maternal  Association,  with  an 


434 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


attendance  sometimes  of  sixty  persons.  Of  the  fourteen 
hundred  church  members  up  to  the  time  of  her  decease, 
no  one  had  been  more  loyal  to  its  interests,  more  uni¬ 
formly  present  at  its  gatherings,  or  taken  active  part  more 
readily  in  its  exercises.  Mrs.  Kittredge’s  married  life 
lacked  only  one  year  of  half  a  century ;  and  during  that 
period  probably  no  one  ever  visited  the  home  on  High¬ 
land  Street  without  finding  it  well  ordered.  On  the 
Lord’s  Day  was  a  secular  book  or  paper  ever  seen  in 
her  hand,  or  on  the  table.  Every  morning  and  every 
night  in  the  week,  about  nine  o’clock,  she  retired  for 
secret  prayer.  The  final  summons  came  in  April,  1883, 
and  for  several  preceding  months  one  of  her  favorite 
hymns  had  been : 

“  I  know  not  the  way  I  am  going, 

But  well  do  I  know  my  Guide ; 

With  a  child-like  trust  I  give  my  hand 
To  the  mighty  Friend  by  my  side; 

The  only  thing  that  I  say  to  Him, 

As  He  takes  it,  is  hold  it  fast ; 

Suffer  me  not  to  lose  my  way, 

And  bring  me  home  at  last.” 

2.  MRS.  HARRIET  L.  DICKINSON. 

Sometimes  the  pastor  has  a  sudden  midnight  sum¬ 
mons.  Thus  was  it  in  the  October  of  1847.  A  sharp 
outside  rap  on  the  house  was  followed  by  the  startling 
appeal,  “  Do  come  down  to  our  house ;  Mrs.  Dickinson  is 
dying.”  I  was  soon  on  the  way,  thinking  how  agitated 
must  that  friend  be  by  this  sudden  call  from  another 


HONORABLE  WOMEN. 


435 


world  to  her  in  the  meridian  of  life ;  but  on  reaching  the 
house  I  found  her  the  most  self-possessed  person  in  her 
upper  room.  The  rest  of  the  family,  and  one  or  two 
neighbors  who  were  present,  seemed  bewildered.  Even 
the  physician,  who  had  been  called,  appeared  to  be  rather 
less  calm  than  usual.  Mrs.  Dickinson  was  unruffled.  On 
the  little  table  beside  her  bed  lay  the  familiar  Bible  which 
had  been  read,  as  was  her  wont,  before  retiring  in  appar¬ 
ent  health  for  the  night.  That  book  had  for  years  been 
her  guide  and  her  joy.  At  the  female  prayer  meeting 
she  was  a  glad  attendant,  and  she  was  one  whose  cheerful 
countenance  was  always  seen  at  the  weekly  prayer  meet¬ 
ing  also,  whatever  the  weather  might  be.  Her  last  social 
call  was  on  a  sister  teacher  in  the  Sunday  School,  whose 
tide  of  life  was  ebbing,  and  with  whom  she  had  sweet 
converse  concerning  their  common  Lord,  who  caused  their 
hearts  to  burn  within  them.  More  than  once  in  the 
course  of  this  closing  hour  of  her  own  life,  she  exclaimed, 
“What  should  I  do  now  if  it  were  not  for  Jesus  Christ!” 

Upon  inquiring  of  the  doctor  how  long  she  might 
expect  to  live,  he  replied,  “  Perhaps  two  hours.”  Her 
parents  and  one  of  two  sisters  being  decided  Christians, 
she  devoted  remaining  time  chiefly  to  the  other  sister, 
and  to  two  brothers,  pleading  with  them  to  choose  at 
once  the  good  part,  alternating  her  appeals  with  silent 
prayer.  Then,  taking  leave  individually  of  all  who  were 
present,  she  laid  her  head  upon  the  pillow,  and  before 
daybreak  fell  asleep  in  Jesus. 


43  6 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


It  was  a  sweet  and  placid  countenance  that  smiled  in 
her  casket,  October  23,  1847.  The  emphatic,  though  silent 
message  was,  “Watch,  therefore,  for  ye  know  neither  the 
day  nor  the  hour  wherein  the  Son  of  man  cometh ;  ” 
“  The  night  is  far  spent ;  the  day  is  at  hand.” 

3.  MRS.  CLARA  STOWELL  FRANKLIN. 

Mrs.  Franklin  was  a  native  of  Guilford,  Vermont,  and 
March  4,  1813,  was  the  date  of  her  birth.  Her  father, 
a  much  beloved  and  respected  citizen,  was  killed  on  his 
own  premises  by  the  fall  of  a  tree,  an  event  which  very 
deeply  impressed  his  daughter.  Her  grandfather  was  an 
officer  in  the  Revolutionary  War.  She  taught  school  in 
her  native  place,  but  upon  marriage  (June,  1839)  came 
to  Roxbury,  and  in  the  first  year  of  my  pastorate  (Novem¬ 
ber,  1842)  joined  the  church  on  confession  of  faith.  At 
the  time  of  her  decease  (1893)  she  stood  nearly  alone  as 
the  last  of  those  in  the  congregation  who  were  living 
when  my  settlement  took  place. 

For  full  half  a  century  Mrs.  Franklin  commanded 
respect  as  a  woman  of  decided  and  consistent  Christian 
character.  The  Bible  was  all  in  all  to  her,  and  prayer 
a  delight.  A  large  family  furnished  no  reason  in  her 
opinion  and  habit  for  absenting  herself  from  public  wor¬ 
ship  on  the  Lord’s  Day,  nor  from  church  meetings  and 
the  Ladies’  Prayer  Meeting  on  week-days.  As  little  did 
she  make  it  an  apology  for  refraining  from  neighborhood 
ministries  among  the  needy,  the  sick,  and  the  bereaved. 


HONORABLE  WOMEN. 


437 


Her  presence  anywhere  was  a  benediction.  Her  piety 
seemed  to  take  an  aspect  and  tone  from  the  spot  where 
she  first  saw  the  light,  and  where  her  early  years  were 
spent.  It  was  a  house  on  the  summit  of  a  hill  command¬ 
ing  a  wide  and  animating  prospect.  Neither  morning 
sun  nor  afternoon  rays  were  ever  darkly  shaded.  The 
five  sons  and  eighteen  grandchildren  living  at  the  time 
of  her  departure  had  more  occasion  than  is  often  had 
to  rise  up  and  call  her  blessed,  in  remembrance  of  rare 
faith,  fidelity,  and  love.  At  four-score  she  fell  asleep  on 
Christmas  eve. 


4.  MRS.  CATHARINE  LOUISA  STONE. 

It  was  about  the  year  1800  that  Elizabeth  Epps, 
born  in  1781,  came  to  this  country  on  a  visit.  Her  home 
was  in  Canterbury,  England,  near  the  famous  cathedral. 
Not  long  after  arriving  in  Boston  she  married  Mr.  Tilly 
Whitcomb  of  this  city.  These  were  the  parents  of  Mrs. 
Stone,  and  she  was  born  here  December,  1802.  In  early 
years  she  attended  a  school  taught  by  the  Misses  Davis ; 
and  among  the  incidents  that  remained  fresh  in  recollec¬ 
tion  to  the  last  was  this,  that  when,  after  the  war  of  1812, 
peace  was  announced,  she  went  home  that  day  swinging 
her  school-bag  in  great  glee,  shouting,  “  Peace !  Peace !  ” 
She  boarded  for  two  years  away  from  home,  in  order  to 
have  training  under  M.  Lannier,  a  distinguished  teacher 
of  music.  When  past  four-score  years  she  would,  if  asked, 


43  8 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


seat  herself  at  the  piano,  and  with  delicate  touch  would 
play,  “  Bluebells  of  Scotland,”  “  Blue-eyed  Mary,”  as  well 
as  other  pieces  which  were  learned  full  seventy  years 
before. 

In  1825  she  married  Gen.  Ebenezer  Stone  of  Boston. 
As  wife,  mother,  and  neighbor,  she  was  peculiarly  devoted, 
kind,  sympathetic,  and  generous.  Her  attachments  were 
strong  and  enduring.  Not  a  few  in  the  younger  genera¬ 
tion  lovingly  called  her  “  Grandmother  Stone.”  Having 
become  deeply  dissatisfied  with  Unitarian  sentiments, 
she  united  with  the  Eliot  Church  in  1838.  The  walk 
from  Jamaica  Plain,  where  the  family  then  lived,  was  a 
long  one,  but  she  was  uniformly  and  punctually  present 
at  Sabbath  worship.  Her  Bible  and  books  of  devotion  — 
such  as  Hannah  More’s  Private  Devotions ,  and  Jay’s 
Morning  Exercises  —  gave  evidence  of  faithful  use. 

November  22,  1875,  General  and  Mrs.  Stone  cele¬ 
brated  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  their  marriage.  Three 
friends  were  present  who  were  also  present  at  the  wed¬ 
ding,  half  a  century  before,  one  of  them  a  bridesmaid  on 
that  occasion.  Mrs.  Stone  had  the  experience  of  four 
years  and  more  of  widowhood;  and  her  departure  came 
suddenly,  September  2,  1883. 

5.  MISS  CAROLINE  MARIA  STONE. 

Fourth  daughter  of  the  foregoing,  and  born  the  year 
(1839)  after  her  mother  became  a  member  of  the  Eliot 
Church.  Twenty  years  later  (1859)  she  entered  publicly 


HONORABLE  WOMEN. 


439 


into  the  same  sacred  fellowship.  Her  narrative  of  Chris¬ 
tian  experience  at  the  time  indicates  very  clear  appre¬ 
hension  of  the  distinctive  truths  of  evangelical  religion, 
and  hearty  enjoyment  of  its  every-day  duties.  Ill  health 
had  a  good  deal  invaded  and  chastened  the  school-girl 
period.  An  infirmity  in  one  arm  interfered  with  the 
practice  of  instrumental  music,  a  fondness  for  which  was 
inherited  from  the  mother,  but  she  made  good  proficiency 
in  the  usual  branches  of  study,  and  in  the  German 
language. 

Amiability  and  gentleness  were  early  characteristics. 
At  eight  years  of  age  she  spontaneously  began  her  min¬ 
istry  of  kindness;  but  after  conversion,  Christian  principle 
inspired  and  controlled  her  activity.  Cheerfully  conscien¬ 
tious  and  self-forgetful  to  a  marked  degree,  she  was  a 
living  illustration  of  First  Corinthians,  the  thirteenth 
chapter  —  “Charity  never  faileth.”  Rooms  of  sickness  and 
houses  of  bereavement  were  her  habitual  resorts,  with 
tokens  of  sympathy  and  the  cup  of  cold  water  in  the 
name  of  a  disciple.  During  the  Civil  War  she  visited 
encampments  at  Readville,  then  at  Galloupe’s  Island ; 
and  later  devoted  herself  to  teaching  freedmen,  and  was 
superintendent  of  a  school  for  them  in  the  west  part  of 
our  city.  After  that  her  habitual  fidelity  was  shown  in 
the  instruction  of  Chinese  men. 

To  an  older  sister,  in  her  last  sickness,  she  gave 
herself  with  an  untiring  devotion  that  led  to  her  own 
decease  six  weeks  later.  A  few  days  before  departure 


440 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


(September  9,  1898)  she  requested  a  friend  to  sing  at  her 
funeral  the  words : 

“  Peace,  peace,  sweet  peace, 

Wonderful  gift  from  above ; 

Oh,  wonderful,  wonderful  peace, 

Sweet  peace,  the  gift  of  God’s  love.” 


6.  MRS.  ABIGAIL  F.  WARDWELL. 

The  circumstances  of  departure  (January,  1883)  were 
unusual.  It  was  during  sleep.  Such  quietness,  such  still¬ 
ness,  were  in  beautiful  accord  with  her  life  and  character; 
and  this  manner  of  removal  may  well  be  accounted  a 
divine  favor.  There  are  only  a  few  to  whom  it  is  vouch¬ 
safed.  Dr.  Chalmers  was  one  of  the  few;  Bishop  Hurd 
was  another.  This  departed  friend  of  ours  had  no  ex¬ 
perience  of  dying ;  caught  no  glimpse  of  the  King  of 
terrors  so  called ;  and  that  is  one  way  in  which  death, 
or  rather  dying,  may  be  abolished.  It  was  in  the  morn¬ 
ing  amidst  the  delightful  freshness  of  early  day.  Her 
last  recollections  of  earth  did  not  relate,  as  is  often  the 
case,  to  struggle  and  distress ;  she  carried  with  her  no 
remembrance  of  farewells  and  tears;  she  went  away  noise¬ 
lessly  to  see  the  King  in  his  beauty.  It  was  at  break 
of  day,  but  not  alone,  for  ministering  spirits  can  have  no 
morning  duties  to  interfere  with  attendance  upon  the 
heirs  of  salvation. 


HONORABLE  WOMEN. 


441 


7.  MRS.  MARY  J.  BASFORD. 

At  the  organization  of  the  church  fifty  members  had 
reached  mature  years,  while  only  one  was  under  age. 
Mary  J.,  a  daughter  of  Mr.  Melzar  Waterman,  was  then 
fourteen,  and  with  her  parents  brought  a  letter  from  the 
church  in  Halifax,  Plymouth  County.  At  the  time  of  her 
decease,  December,  1893,  had  for  quite  a  while  been 
the  only  survivor  of  the  original  membership,  and  for 
three-score  years  had  maintained  a  blameless  Christian 
walk  and  fellowship.  So  long  a  connection  with  one  and 
the  same  brotherhood  of  believers  is  comparatively  infre¬ 
quent.  Circumstances  early  in  my  pastorate  gave  oppor¬ 
tunity  for  intimate  acquaintance  with  Mrs.  Basford.  A 
distinct  impression  was  then  received  that  she  was  a 
woman  of  rare  amiability,  discretion,  and  conscientious 
fidelity.  Not  the  least  trace  of  resentment,  jealousy,  un¬ 
due  self-seeking,  or  other  such  low  traits  ever  became 
manifest  at  that  time.  The  subsequent  fifty  years  only 
confirmed  and  strengthened  impressions  that  were  then 
made.  Through  the  whole  half-century  one  habit  attracted 
particular  notice  —  a  sanctified  control  of  the  tongue.  Ac¬ 
cording  to  the  standard  of  the  Apostle  James,  she  came 
as  near  the  attainment  of  absolute  perfection  as  any  one 
whom  I  have  known  so  long  and  so  well.  I  never  heard 
a  word  from  her  lips  which  she  might  afterwards  desire 
to  recall.  To  human  eyes  she  was  an  embodiment  of 
blamelessness.  In  the  absence  of  personal  decoration  she 
wore,  “  the  ornament  of  a  meek  and  quiet  spirit,  which  in 
the  sight  of  God  is  of  great  price.” 


442 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


8.  MRS.  ANNA  F.  WATERS. 

The  roll  of  Christian  honor  —  what  names  stand  high 
on  that  ?  The  question  relates  to  character,  to  the  meas¬ 
ure  of  unselfishness,  of  Christ-like  spirit  and  ways  as 
manifested  habitually  by  the  aim  and  tone  of  life.  In  out¬ 
ward  condition  no  member  of  the  Eliot  Church  had  less 
that  was  attractive  than  Mrs.  Waters.  To  find  her  home 
one  had  to  go  down  a  narrow  alley,  climb  a  rickety  flight 
of  outside  steps  to  an  apartment  over  a  workshop,  and 
immediately  under  a  roof  the  rafters  of  which  were  in- 
crusted  with  soot.  The  hovel-attic  was  innocent  of  plas¬ 
ter,  and  its  chief  articles  of  furniture  were  two  chairs,  a 
table,  a  rough  wooden  box,  and  an  old  stove.  Dress,  per¬ 
son,  and  features  corresponded  with  the  place  of  abode. 
She  would  make  no  apology  for  those  surroundings,  nor 
even  allude  to  them.  Friends  would  have  gladly  pro¬ 
vided  something  more  comfortable,  but  for  the  incum¬ 
brance  of  a  miserly  and  tyrannical  husband,  a  wood- 
sawer  by  trade.  A  lisp  of  complaint,  however,  never 
escaped  her.  Speak  of  the  Saviour  or  of  a  Bible  promise, 
and  her  countenance  would  kindle,  and  you  would  then 
see  the  only  pleasing  object  under  that  dingy  roof,  the 
radiance  of  indwelling  holiness.  Her  mind  was  feeble, 
her  range  of  knowledge  extremely  limited ;  her  religion 
was  the  whole  of  her.  Early  girlhood  passed  in  unevan¬ 
gelical  environment,  but  when,  at  fifteen  years  of  age, 
conversion  took  place,  she  became  “  a  new  creature,”  and 
continued  to  “  grow  in  grace  and  in  the  knowledge  of 


HONORABLE  WOMEN. 


443 


our  Lord  and  Saviour,  Jesus  Christ,”  furnishing  a  fine 
illustration  of  eminent  piety  combined  with  stunted  in¬ 
tellect. 

Mrs.  Waters,  without  suggestion  from  any  one,  en¬ 
gaged  in  neighborhood  work,  visiting  the  homes  of 
Roman  Catholics  and  others,  where  she  read  sacred 
Scripture  and  occasionally  left  a  tract.  Her  benevolence 
was  remarkable,  though  her  only  source  of  income,  prior 
to  becoming  a  widow,  was  the  knitting-needle.  The  con¬ 
tribution  box,  when  passed  for  various  objects,  generally  re¬ 
ceived  her  two  mites.  Necessary  absence  from  the  monthly 
concert  of  prayer  for  foreign  missions,  formed  no  excuse 
for  not  giving ;  she  would  at  the  next  opportunity  put  in 
double  her  usual  amount.  One  morning  she  came  to  me 
with  a  basket  of  cents,  which  she  had  for  a  year  been 
saving  as  the  fruit  of  self-denial  over  and  above  ordinary 
gifts.  She  had  heard  something  from  the  pulpit  on  that 
subject,  and  something  about  a  special  appeal  from  Cey¬ 
lon,  and  the  purpose  was  entertained  to  save  two  cents  a 
week  extra.  She  desired  me  to  count  the  contents  of  the 
basket  and  see  if  there  was  enough  to  make  good  the 
average  for  all  the  weeks  of  the  year  —  a  problem  too 
deep  for  her  arithmetic.  When  told  that  there  were 
three  cents  over,  and  those  were  handed  back  to  her,  she 
wished  the  whole  to  go  into  the  treasury  of  the  Amer¬ 
ican  Board  —  her  face  beaming  the  while  with  devout  joy 
that  the  coppers  held  out  so  well.  Her  last  labor  was  to 
knit  a  pair  of  socks  for  a  needy  individual ;  and  her  last 


444 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


charity  was  sending  a  dollar  by  the  hand  of  another  to 
a  city  missionary  in  New  York. 

As  the  hour  of  departure  drew  on,  her  joy  became 
unspeakable.  “  Triumph  over  death,”  “  Triumph  over 
death,”  was  often  on  her  lips.  Her  parting  words  to  me 
were,  “  I  expect  to  stay  in  heaven  tonight.”  Those  who 
watched  with  her  said  the  room  was  “  a  little  heaven.” 
“  Home,  almost  home,”  was  her  final  articulation.  Did 
ever  ministering  angels  bear  an  emancipated  spirit  with 
more  alacrity  to  the  paradise  of  God?  Mrs.  Waters  lived 
seventy-one  years.  At  the  funeral  in  that  obscure  upper 
room  five  ministers  were  present,  not  by  request,  but  be¬ 
cause  they  knew  the  rare  worth  of  one  who  had  literally 
“  done  what  she  could.”  As  there  was  no  relative  of  hers 
living  in  Roxbury,  and  no  one  to  be  flattered  by  any¬ 
thing  commendatory  of  her,  a  discourse  depicting  her 
character  was  preached,  the  first  of  the  kind  in  the  Eliot 
Church.  At  the  request  of  friends  the  same  was  pub¬ 
lished  under  the  title,  The  Poor  Widow.  This  memo¬ 
rial,  translated  by  one  of  our  missionaries,  soon  appeared 
in  the  Tamil  language;  and  thus  the  poor,  praying,  self- 
sacrificing,  yet  feeble-minded  woman  has  now  for  more 
than  two-score  years  been  preaching  to  natives  in  North¬ 
ern  Ceylon. 

9.  MRS.  MAGDALENA  KUHN. 

Another  of  the  original  members.  The  family  were 
in  very  humble  circumstances ;  but  with  her  husband, 
Christian  Kuhn,  she  was  invariably  and  punctually  present 


HONORABLE  WOMEN. 


445 


at  all  public  services  on  tne  Lord’s  Day,  and  at  church 
meetings.  Their  knowledge  of  the  English  language  was 
very  imperfect,  and  their  use  of  it  still  more  imperfect. 
But  they  never  seemed  to  be  mortified  by  their  plainness 
of  dress  and  of  speech.  Their  peculiarly  modest  and 
exemplary  deportment  was  a  silent  power  for  good,  much 
more  effective  than  the  talkativeness  and  irregular  bustle 
of  others.  So  uniform,  yet  unobtrusive  was  their  quiet, 
consistent  walk,  as  to  impress  one  of  the  ablest  and  most 
prominent  of  our  young  men,  and  prove  to  be  the  means 
of  his  conversion.  In  calling  at  their  plain  dwelling,  I 
never  failed  to  find  them  seated  at  evening  on  opposite 
sides  of  a  small  table,  a  dim  light  between  them,  each 
intent  upon  an  open  German  Bible.  No  habitation  in  the 
city  could  present  a  more  beautiful  scene. 

Mrs.  Kuhn  had,  in  large  measure,  all  the  simplicity 
and  warmth  of  emotion  ever  witnessed  in  a  Wiirtem- 
burger.  Speak  of  the  Saviour,  or  the  Heavenly  Father, 
and  soon  the  tears  would  begin  to  trickle  down  her  ruddy 
cheeks,  and  up  would  come  a  corner  of  her  coarse,  but 
neat  apron.  It  became  necessary  for  her  to  take  boarders, 
and  that  interfered  much  with  Bible-reading  and  prayer. 
Longing  for  more  quiet,  she  told  me  she  had  asked  the 
Lord  that  he  would  please  send,  what  she  called,  “some 
shly  sickness,”  that  she  might  have  time  for  his  Word 
and  for  fellowship.  Not  long  after,  she  fell  downstairs 
and  broke  a  leg.  Her  first  thought  was,  “  Das  ist  das 
shly  sickness ;  ”  and  there  followed  several  weeks  of  blessed 


446 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


leisure  for  the  lively  oracles,  and  for  communion  at  the 
mercy-seat.  At  the  age  of  sixty-six,  on  a  mild,  bright 
morning  in  May,  1866,  the  dear  woman  entered  into  the 
perfect  rest  and  perfect  fellowship. 

IO.  MRS.  MARY  c ALLEN. 

A  few  natives  of  Ireland  were  at  different  times  wel¬ 
comed  to  the  church,  one  of  them,  Mrs.  Mary  Callen, 
July,  1855.  Her  ancestry  was  Scottish.  Before  leaving 
the  mother  country  she  had  been  to  the  Lord’s  table. 
Later,  however,  she  became  convinced  of  her  unfitness  to 
be  a  communicant.  Her  eyes  were  opened  as  never  before 
to  view  penitently  her  sinful  and  lost  condition,  and  in 
faith  to  behold  the  Lamb  of  God  her  all-sufficient  Saviour. 
Heavy  bereavements  came,  husband  and  all  her  children 
—  seven  in  number  —  being  removed  by  death.  Extreme 
poverty  followed,  but  while  her  sphere  was  a  very  humble 
one,  an  irreproachable  life,  and  a  beautiful  Christian  spirit 
adorned  it. 

When  eighty  years  of  age  Mrs.  Callen,  after  a  severe 
strain  upon  her  eyes  in  plying  her  daily  task,  suddenly 
became  blind  one  night.  Dependence  on  others  was  then 
complete,  but  during  the  fifteen  years  that  followed,  not¬ 
withstanding  loneliness  and  feebleness,  no  one  heard  aught 
of  complaining  or  sighing  from  her  lips.  The  twenty- 
third  Psalm  was  a  favorite.  It  was  daily  food,  and  a 
precious  cordial  to  her  soul.  She  never  failed  to  repeat 
it  when  retiring  for  rest  at  night.  Blindness  did  not  pre- 


HONORABLE  WOMEN. 


447 


vent  her  living  in  green  pastures,  nor  walking  by  the  still 
waters.  To  the  family,  in  which  for  twenty  years  she  was 
an  inmate,  her  presence  became  a  benediction,  like  the  ark 
in  the  house  of  Obed-Edom.  During  that  period  one  out 
of  each  of  three  successive  generations  was  carried  to  the 
Field  of  Ephron,  each,  of  whom  alike  called  the  aged 
sojourner,  “  Grandmama.”  They  found  a  model  and  a 
blessing  in  her  example. 

Her  early  advantages  for  education  were  meager  in¬ 
deed.  Robert  Raikes  did  not  open  his  first  school  till 
after  she  was  born.  But  Mrs.  Callen  had  committed  to 
memory  the  Assembly’s  Shorter  Catechism,  and  that  con¬ 
densed  formulary  of  Bible  truths  was  a  perennial  source 
of  spiritual  education,  strength,  and  comfort.  I  regarded 
her  as  one  of  the  most  useful  members  of  the  church. 
No  sermon  on  resignation,  trust  in  God,  and  devout 
appropriation  of  the  Psalms,  was  so  effective  as  the  unob¬ 
trusive  yet  eloquent  experience  of  that  decrepit  woman. 
Young  men  and  young  women  of  the  church  improved 
opportunities  of  visiting  the  aged  saint,  to  whom  they 
read  or  repeated  portions  of  Holy  Scripture,  speaking  also 
in  psalms  and  hymns,  and  engaging  in  prayer  with  her. 
Probably  there  was  not  at  the  time  a  more  grateful  or  a 
happier  citizen  in  Boston.  Amidst  sickness  and  failing 
strength  and  many  pains  her  song  still  was,  “  Surely  good¬ 
ness  and  mercy  shall  follow  me  all  the  days  of  my  life.” 
Between  one  and  two  thousand  dollars  stood  to  the  credit 
of  the  church  in  her  behalf,  besides  what  had  been  con- 


44.8 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


tributed  privately  by  individuals,  but  most  gladly  was  the 
outlay  met.  When  at  length  her  decease  came  in  May, 
1875,  she  lacked  only  four  years  and  some  months  of 
being  a  centenarian. 

II.  MRS.  JUDITH  NUTTING. 

Instances  of  exceptional  longevity  are  never  numer¬ 
ous  in  any  community,  and  hence  attract  attention.  They 
are  the  living  links  between  three  or  more  generations. 
The  decease  of  a  centenarian,  or  of  one  who  has  reached 
the  confines  of  a  hundred  years,  draws  attention.  The 
proportion  of  such  in  the  Eliot  congregation  is  consider¬ 
ably  in  excess  of  what  it  is  in  the  population  at  large. 
Mrs.  Nutting  died  in  1883,  at  the  age  of  ninety-seven. 
She  well  remembered  when,  sixty  years  before,  there  was 
announced  the  sudden  death  of  Mrs.  Garrick,  widow  of 
the  celebrated  actor,  at  the  age  of  ninety-seven,  accessible 
and  attractive  to  the  last.  The  same  year  (1822),  upon 
the  decease  of  Sir  William  Herschel,  his  no  less  remark¬ 
able  sister  Caroline  removed  to  Hanover,  Germany,  where, 
with  an  unclouded  intellect,  she  lived  till  1848,  and  within 
three  years  of  a  century.  Elizabeth,  the  widow  of  Gen. 
Alexander  Hamilton,  survived  her  husband  more  than 
half  a  century,  dying  (1854)  at  ninety-seven. 

Mrs.  Judith  Nutting  was  born  October  1,  1786,  be¬ 
fore  our  Federal  Constitution  had  been  adopted;  before 
Massachusetts  had  passed  an  act  forbidding  the  slave- 
trade  ;  before  mass  had  ever  been  celebrated  in  Boston 


HONORABLE  WOMEN. 


449 


by  a  Roman  Catholic  priest ;  before  a  land  office  had 
been  open  for  sales  to  settlers ;  and  before  cotton  had 
been  exported  or  even  grown  at  the  South.  The  entire 
population  of  our  Commonwealth  then  did  not  exceed 
that  of  Boston  today.  She  was  the  daughter  of  Thomas 
Hastings,  a  revolutionary  soldier,  the  fourth  bearing  that 
name  in  direct  descent  from  Deacon  Thomas  Hastings, 
an  immigrant  from  Ipswich,  England,  in  the  year  1634. 
Through  the  Thomas  last  named,  the  family  lineage  runs 
back  to  a  younger  brother  of  Sir  Henry  Hastings,  Earl 
of  Huntingdon.  The  family  is  one  of  the  extremely  few 
in  England  which  can  trace  their  pedigree  so  far  even  as 
the  fourteenth  century.  But  Hastings,  one  of  the  Cinque 
Portes,  still  shows  the  remains  of  its  castle  where  William 
the  Conqueror  lodged  before  the  decisive  battle  —  that  of 
Hastings,  1066  —  which  overthrew  the  Saxon  dynasty. 
Already  in  the  time  of  Alfred  the  Great  (ninth  century),  a 
Danish  Hastings  had  planted  himself  in  Sussex. 

In  1815,  and  on  the  same  day  with  her  husband, 
Mrs,  Nutting  made  a  public  profession  of  faith  in  Christ. 
Under  the  pastoral  care  of  Rev.  Mr.  Parsons,  of  Amherst, 
Massachusetts  —  who  made  large  use  of  the  Assembly’s 
Shorter  Catechism  —  the  children  were  wont  regularly  to 
recite  the  answers  in  that  compend.  Nothing  short  of 
literal  accuracy  would  satisfy  the  desires  of  the  minister 
or  the  ambition  of  young  catechumens.  Questions  and 
answers  remained  distinctly  in  Mrs.  Nutting’s  memory  to 
the  last.  As  opportunity  offered  she  would  put  her  own 


45° 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


children  through  the  catechism,  after  they  had  themselves 
become  parents  and  even  grandparents.  It  was  under  the 
influence  of  that  little  formulary  that  her  own  character 
received  its  type.  She  showed  Puritan  loyalty  to  sound 
doctrine,  law,  and  order  —  order  in  the  family,  the  church, 
and  society.  She  had  a  clear  apprehension  of  the  evan¬ 
gelical  system  of  belief,  and  a  hearty  love  of  the  same. 
Whatever  was  accepted  as  duty  became  a  pleasure  to 
her.  In  regard  to  secret  prayer  and  the  reading  of  God’s 
Word,  no  thought  seemed  ever  to  enter  her  mind  except 
to  maintain  constancy  and  find  profitable  enjoyment 
therein.  Her  memory  was  early  stored  with  hymns.  In 
later  years,  at  the  hour  of  evening  twilight,  it  was  still 
her  delight  to  sing  or  repeat  certain  favorites,  such  as, 

“  When  to  the  west  the  sun  descends,”  etc. 

For  some  scores  of  years,  every  night,  after  retiring  to 
rest,  she  repeated  the  hymn, 

“  And  now  another  day  has  gone, 

I’ll  sing  my  Maker’s  praise,”  etc. 

She  was  always  looking  on  the  bright  side  of  things. 
Grumbling  is  not  a  factor  of  longevity.  During  forty-five 
years  of  widowhood  she  maintained  a  cheerful  walk  with 
God.  For  children  and  children’s  children  to  the  fifth 
generation,  her  memory  is  a  richer  legacy  than  any 
that  could  pass  through  the  probate  office.  Her  seven 
daughters  were  born  under  the  same  roof,  and  married 
in  the  same  room ;  and  they,  as  well  as  the  two  sons, 


HONORABLE  WOMEN. 


45  1 


were  all  living,  and  all  had  families  at  the  time  of  her 
departure. 

12.  MRS.  LUCY  WATERMAN. 

The  church  had  been  formed  only  fourteen  months 
when  Mrs.  Waterman,  coming  from  New  York,  became 
a  member  (1836).  It  was  in  1812  that  she  first  made 
public  profession  of  faith  in  Christ.  Her  character  and 
the  esteem  in  which  she  was  held  are  indicated  by  Reso¬ 
lutions  which  were  adopted  at  the  meeting  that  next  pre¬ 
ceded  her  hundredth  birthday: 

“  Learning  that  the  one  hundredth  anniversary  of  the 

birth  of  Mrs.  Lucy  Waterman,  a  revered  and  beloved  mem¬ 
ber  of  this  church,  is  expected  to  take  place  on  the  eighth 
instant,  the  brethren  and  sisters  of  the  Eliot  Church  present 
at  the  regular  meeting  of  this  date  gladly  recognize  the 
unusual  event,  and  in  token  thereof  heartily  adopt  the 
following  minute: 

“  That  congratulations  be  conveyed  to  our  venerable 
sister  in  Christ,  in  view  of  her  attaining  to  this  extreme 
age,  and  under  circumstances  so  favorable ;  that  infirmities 
are  so  few,  and  that  faculties  of  the  mind  have,  in  such 
measure,  been  preserved ;  that  she  has  never  had  occa¬ 
sion  to  follow  to  the  grave  any  one  of  her  children ;  that 
the  three  sons  are  still  living,  and  in  their  filial  assidui¬ 
ties  she  has  a  gratifying  share;  that  the  Word  of  God 
and  prayer  to  God  are  still  her  delight  and  solace;  that 
faith,  hope,  and  charity  have  not  waned,  and  that  she 
still  testifies  to  the  faithfulness  and  abounding  goodness 
of  our  covenant-keeping  God: 


45  2 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


“  That  we  contemplate  with  gratitude  the  evidence  of 
a  consistent  Christian  life  of  four-score  years,  and  of  an 
exemplary  walk  and  conversation  for  more  than  half  a 
century  in  the  membership  of  the  Eliot  Church ;  and  that 
we  render  thanks  to  the  God  of  all  grace  for  manifest 
special  mercies  to  our  sister  during  the  whole  period  of 
one  hundred  years: 

“  That  we  devoutly  and  affectionately  commend  her 
to  the  continued  faithfulness  of  him  who  is  the  ancient 
of  days,  and  whose  word  of  unfailing  promise  is :  ‘  Even 
to  your  old  age  I  am  he,  and  even  to  hoar  hairs  will  I 
carry  you :  I  have  made  and  I  will  bear ;  even  I  will 
carry  and  will  deliver  you.’  ” 

These  were  communicated  to  her  on  the  anniversary, 
April  8,  1890.  Two  score  of  her  friends  went  twenty- 
five  miles  to  pay  their  respects  to  the  venerable  saint.  It 
was  noteworthy  that  all  her  children  were  also  then  pres¬ 
ent.  Among  the  appropriate  gifts  at  that  time  was  a 
collection  of  one  hundred  texts  of  sacred  Scripture,  which 
she  would  prize  more  than  so  many  jewels.  She  put  on 
her  glasses  and  read  aloud  a  part  of  the  fourteenth  chap¬ 
ter  of  John’s  gospel.  “Rock  of  Ages,  cleft  for  me,”  and 
“Jesus,  lover  of  my  soul,”  two  of  her  favorite  hymns,  were 
sung. 

Over  a  year  and  a  half  after  that  occasion,  in  the 
fifty-sixth  year  of  her  fellowship  with  this  church,  and  in 
her  one  hundred  and  second  year  of  age,  Mrs.  Waterman 
entered  into  rest,  Sunday,  November  15,  1891.  She  be- 


HONORABLE  WOMEN. 


453 


longed  to  a  family  in  which  there  has  been  a  good  deal 
of  longevity.  One  of  her  grandfathers  lived  eighty-four 
years,  and  his  wife  ninety-two  years;  a  brother  attained 
to  the  age  of  eighty-nine ;  one  sister  to  the  age  of  ninety, 
and  another  sister,  whose  death  was  caused  by  accident, 
to  the  age  of  ninety-seven. 

Mrs.  Waterman’s  maiden  name  was  Sturtevant ,  and 
she  was  of  the  Plymouth  County  stock,  from  which  have 
come  prominent  men,  and  men  of  decided  Christian  char¬ 
acter.  One  of  them  was  Dr.  Julian  M.  Sturtevant,  a  Pro¬ 
fessor  and  afterwards  President  of  Illinois  College. 

13.  MISS  SUSAN  WESSON. 

Miss  Wesson  belonged  to  a  large  family  characterized 
by  native  refinement,  modesty,  sobriety,  and  conscientious¬ 
ness.  The  father,  William  Wesson,  born  in  England, 
came  to  this  country  in  early  life  and  was  a  prosperous 
man.  For  some  years  he  lived  in  Boston ;  but  removing 
to  Cambridge  in  1802,  he  made  purchases  of  land  and 
built  a  large  three-story  house.  College  students  became 
inmates  of  the  family.  The  daughter  Susan  was  born 
July  23,  1797.  Of  the  nine  children  in  her  father’s 
family  —  three  of  whom  died  before  reaching  adult  years 
—  no  one  was  ever  married.  The  brother  William,  it  is 
understood,  became  engaged ;  but  having  met  with  losses, 
which  included  his  mother’s  property,  he  deemed  it  a 
duty  to  devote  himself  to  the  maintenance  of  her  and  of 
his  surviving  sisters.  Honorable  sentiments  always  con- 


454 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


trolled  him.  There  was  said  to  be  property  in  the  south 
of  England,  to  which  the  family  were  entitled.  On  the 
mother’s  side  there  was  a  prominent  merchant  and  ship¬ 
owner  in  Boston ;  and,  but  for  the  loss  of  documentary 
evidence  the  family  estate  might  have  been  benefited 
by  redress  through  the  “  French  Spoliation  ”  claims. 

The  mother  of  Miss  Wesson,  and  her  brother,  Wil¬ 
liam  Marshall  Wesson,  joined  the  Eliot  Church  by  letter 
of  recommendation  from  the  Pine  Street  Church,  Boston, 
in  the  year  1857.  The  mother,  a  women  of  unusual 
dignity,  amiability,  and  Christian  gentleness,  died  the 
next  year.  “  Father  Cleveland,”  so  called  and  well  known 
in  Boston,  long  time  a  friend  of  the  family,  was  at  the 
funeral,  being  then  well  on  toward  one  hundred  years 
of  age. 

Miss  Wesson  had  not  made  public  profession  of  faith 
in  Christ  prior  to  the  year  named  above,  when  she,  too, 
became  a  member  of  the  church.  She  had  already  in¬ 
dulged  a  Christian  hope  for  twenty-five  years.  Her  re¬ 
ligious  life  was  not  demonstrative,  but  quiet,  such  as 
might  be  expected  from  native  temperament,  family  habits, 
and  the  general  domestic  atmosphere.  On  her  one  hun¬ 
dredth  birthday  (1897)  s^e  seemed  not  to  have  failed  very 
sensibly  during  the  past  year.  She  spoke  of  her  interest 
in  the  Eliot  Church,  her  prayers  for  that  and  for  friends, 
her  love  of  the  Bible,  and  of  the  comfort  derived  from 
sacred  hymns.  She  repeated  three  stanzas  of  one  among 
her  favorites.  It  was  no  common  spectacle  to  look  upon 


HONORABLE  WOMEN. 


45  S 

the  white  hairs  of  one  born  while  Washington  was  still 
living,  and  at  a  time  of  universal  excitement  in  the  civil¬ 
ized  world,  when  Napoleonic  wars  were  raging,  thrones 
demolished,  and  new  governments  established,  to  see  her 
sitting  now,  after  a  century’s  experience,  in  her  solitary 
home,  whence  the  family  were  all  departed,  meditating  on 
Christ’s  gracious  mediation  and  the  church  redeemed  by 
his  precious  blood. 

The  last  time  that  I  called  on  her  she  spoke  of 
her  desire  to  sing,  to  sing  with  the  great  choir.  It 
was  natural  to  repeat  to  her,  “  And  I  heard  a  voice  of 
many  angels  round  about  the  throne,  and  the  living 
creatures  and  the  elders ;  and  the  number  of  them  was 
ten  thousand  times  ten  thousand,  and  thousands  of  thou¬ 
sands,  saying  with  a  great  voice,  Worthy  is  the  Lamb 
that  hath  been  slain  to  receive  the  power,  and  riches, 
and  wisdom,  and  might,  and  honor,  and  glory,  and  bless¬ 
ing.”  November  30,  1897,  the  age  of  one  hundred 
years,  four  months  and  seven  days,  she  joined  the  great 
choir.  In  the  family  lot  at  Mount  Hope  Cemetery  there 
have  been  numerous  interments,  and  all  of  persons  who 
were  over  three-score  and  ten  years  of  age. 

ministers’  wives. 

There  is  occasion  to  speak  of  ministers’  wives.  The 
wives  of  American  clergymen  have,  as  a  class,  been 
among  the  finest  endowed,  best  educated,  and  most  ex¬ 
emplary  of  American  women.  Their  position  in  Colonial, 


45  6 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


Revolutionary,  and  later  times  has  been  one  of  special 
delicacy  and  responsibility,  besides  being  often  one  of 
peculiar  trial.  In  their  straitened  circumstances  and  feeble 
health,  not  a  few  have  belonged  to  the  noble  army  of 
martyrs.  Seldom  have  they  become  wandering  stars. 
They  have  been  keepers  at  home,  skillful  in  domestic 
concerns.  By  their  culture,  their  gentleness,  suavity,  and 
dignity,  their  influence  has  been  marked  in  moulding  and 
elevating  the  character  of  parishes.  There  is  no  pro¬ 
fession,  no  occupation  in  which  the  wise  suggestions  and 
warm  sympathies  of  a  wife  are  more  needed.  Imagine 
for  a  moment  that  Roman  Catholic  celibacy  had  pre¬ 
vailed  here,  and  what  a  different  aspect  would  our  fair 
heritage  have  presented ! 

14.  MRS.  ELIZA  HILL  ANDERSON. 

Twelve  years  have  passed  since  Mrs.  Anderson  left 
us  (March,  1888),  and  yet  she  can  never  wholly  leave  us. 
The  Eliot  Church  will  always  have  occasion  to  give 
thanks  for  the  life  and  labors  here  of  such  Priscillas  and 
Marys.  Mrs.  Anderson’s  membership  with  us  covered 
more  than  half  a  century  (1836-1888);  her  entire  term  of 
public  Christian  confession  approached  seventy  years.  In 
her  ancestry  there  was  a  fair  measure  of  longevity,  through 
five  generations  on  the  father’s  side  to  John  Hill  (1600); 
and  on  the  mother’s  side  through  six  generations  to  Rich¬ 
ard  Carpenter,  born  in  England  (1593).  It  was  at  a  little 
short  of  four-score  and  four  years  that  Dr.  Anderson 


HONORABLE  WOMEN. 


457 


took  leave  of  us  early  one  morning ;  a  little  past  four¬ 
score  and  four  Mrs.  Anderson  took  her  leave  just  at 
sunset. 

Her  life  from  girlhood  in  Catskill,  New  York,  was 
marked  by  unfailing  modesty,  conscientiousness,  and  quiet 
decision  of  character.  Although  only  eight  years  old 
when  her  mother  died,  she  had  received  a  maternal  im¬ 
press  which  remained  in  clear  outline  through  life.  For 
example,  her  ministry  of  neighborhood  kindness  began 
very  early,  and  continued  to  the  last.  The  Bible  became 
to  her  the  book  of  books.  Chapters  were  treasured  in 
the  memory  ;  so  were  hymns,  a  store  which  amounted 
at  length  to  hundreds.  Habits  of  industry,  order,  and 
accuracy  were  formed.  When  a  little  girl  at  school  she 
stood  at  the  head  of  her  class  in  spelling,  and  as  a  re¬ 
ward  of  merit  —  present  juvenile  literature  will  look  down 
in  amazement  from  its  crowded  shelves  —  she  received  a 
copy  of  Washington’s  Farewell  Address!  In  early 
womanhood  her  firm  adherence  to  what  is  right  was 
not  inferior  to  that  of  the  father  of  his  country.  While 
visiting  in  the  family  of  a  distinguished  Commodore  of 
the  United  States  Navy  she  was  invited  to  attend  the 
theater,  the  Commodore  arguing  that  it  is  well  to  go 
once  in  order  to  see  what  it  is.  Eliza  Hill  declined  and 
never  regretted  the  decision. 

At  sixteen  Dr.  Anderson  taught  a  public  school ;  at 
sixteen  Mrs.  Anderson  also  became  a  teacher.  While 
connected  with  a  young  ladies’  school  in  New  Haven 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


45  8 

she  had  among  her  pupils  some  who  came  to  prominent 
positions  —  Mrs.  President  Porter,  Mrs.  Dr.  Buckingham 
of  Springfield,  Mrs.  Dr.  Bond  of  Norwich,  Mrs.  Dr. 
Krebbs  of  New  York,  Mrs.  Professor  Park  of  Andover, 
and  Mrs.  Commodore  Foote.  Fondness  and  aptness  for 
teaching  continued  to  the  last.  At  the  age  of  eighty-two 
she  carried  two  granddaughters  through  a  course  in 
moral  philosophy  with  interest  and  profit. 

Preparation  for  special  auxiliary  service  in  the  cause 
of  foreign  missions  began  in  a  very  natural  way.  She 
was  early  an  inmate  in  the  family  of  Rev.  Dr.  David  Por¬ 
ter  of  Catskill,  a  man  deeply  interested  in  that  cause,  at 
whose  house  she  became  acquainted  with  such  men  as 
Samuel  J.  Mills,  Drs.  Cornelius  and  Goodell,  Horatio 
Bardwell  of  the  Marathi  Mission,  and  Cyrus  Kingsbury 
of  the  Choctaw  Mission.  In  the  family  of  a  brother, 
Henry  Hill,  treasurer  of  the  American  Board,  she  began 
acquaintance  with  Boston  next  door  to  that  of  Jeremiah 
Evarts. 

Mrs.  Anderson’s  married  life  was  one  of  cheerful  self- 
sacrifice.  It  involved  three  long  absences  of  her  hus¬ 
band  on  foreign  deputations ;  it  involved  the  need  of  most 
provident  management  in  household  administrations,  upon 
an  inadequate  income.  A  golden  mean  was  maintained 
between  running  in  debt  on  the  one  hand,  and  niggard 
parsimony  on  the  other.  In  welcoming  guests  nothing 
was  overdone.  Hospitality  was  most  abundant,  especially 
in  behalf  of  departing  and  returning  missionaries.  Per- 


HONORABLE  WOMEN. 


459 


sonal  assistance  in  outfit  and  refit  were  bestowed,  and 
often  at  no  small  personal  inconvenience.  Not  infre¬ 
quently  did  she  leave  a  sick  bed  to  minister  to  some 
newly-arrived  laborer  from  beyond  sea.  The  heads  of 
the  family  sometimes  had  to  betake  themselves  to  an 
attic  chamber  to  make  room  for  unexpected  arrivals,  and 
such  were  often  unexpected  at  any  given  time.  Probably 
no  other  house  on  this  continent  ever  entertained  so 
many  guests  of  that  class.  The  earliest  in  the  long  list 
were  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Levi  Spaulding  of  Ceylon.  The 
apostolic  Daniel  Temple  was  another.  The  saintly 
David  Stoddard  and  Fidelia  Fiske  were  among  them. 
During  the  first  ten  months  of  a  certain  year  one  hun¬ 
dred  and  fourteen  different  missionaries  and  their  friends 
were  entertained  for  a  longer  or  shorter  time.  Upon 
careful  inquiry  I  am  satisfied  that  for  the  thirty-nine 
years  of  Dr.  Anderson’s  service  as  secretary,  and  while 
at  housekeeping,  the  average  of  hospitality  that  year  was 
only  about  the  average  for  the  whole  period.  At  the 
Jubilee  visit  (i860)  there  were  sixty-eight  present;  the 
Lord’s  prayer  was  repeated  in  twenty  different  languages, 
and  a  hymn  was  sung  simultaneously  in  numerous  tongues. 

Through  these  years  Mrs.  Anderson  kept  up  a  wide 
correspondence,  foreign  as  well  as  domestic.  Her  con¬ 
tributions  to  a  religious  journal,  over  the  signature  of 
Beulah ,  sundry  obituary  notices,  besides  short  essays  in 
the  Missionary  Herald  and  Life  and  Light ,  are  in  style 
and  sentiment  unadorned,  clear,  and  pertinent.  So  is  an 


460 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


Address  to  Hawaiian  Women  after  a  visit  to  the  Sandwich 
Islands,  and  published  in  the  language  of  those  Islands. 
Her  Memorial  of  Susan  Maria  Underwood,  a  deceased 
member  of  this  church,  had  the  same  characteristics. 
Similar,  too,  is  the  Memoir  of  Mary  Lathrop,  of  which 
in  the  German  language  I  lighted  on  a  copy  when  travel¬ 
ing  in  Switzerland  a  few  years  since.  Today  it  is  doing 
good  service  in  the  Ottoman  Empire,  having  passed 
through  several  editions  in  both  the  Turkish  and  Arme¬ 
nian  languages. 

But  did  foreign  missions  absorb  thought  and  effort? 
If  in  the  Eliot  Church  there  was  any  one  more  ready 
for  local  Christian  activity  during  my  pastorate,  I  have 
yet  to  learn  the  name.  The  busiest  woman  with  orderly 
habits  is  the  one  most  ready  for  service  outside  of  her 
special  sphere.  Queen  Victoria,  though  monarch  of 
Great  Britain  and  Empress  of  India,  finds  time  to  be 
president  of  a  Bible  Society  in  Berkshire,  the  county  that 
includes  Windsor  Castle. 

Mrs.  Anderson  enjoyed  a  fixed  and  all-sustaining 
assurance  of  the  Saviour’s  presence,  and  gracious  readiness 
to  do  all  that  could  be  desired.  Forty  years  before  her 
decease  she  told  me  that  death  would  be  no  surprise  to 
her  at  any  hour.  In  the  course  of  a  prolonged  sickness, 
the  year  preceding  that  event,  she  said  to  a  grand¬ 
daughter,  “  I  would  have  our  Saviour  depicted  as  Mr. 
Greatheart,  standing  at  the  entrance  of  a  building  or 
enclosure,  and  close  by  a  little,  white,  trembling  lamb  ; 


HONORABLE  WOMEN. 


461 


but  Mr.  Greatheart  is  very  near.”  Her  closing  testimony 
ran  thus :  “  Why,  I  feel  as  if  Christ  were  right  here  !  I 
am  not  alone.” 

15.  MRS.  SARAH  ELIZABETH  R.  PECK. 

It  was  peculiarly  gratifying  to  the  writer  that  a 
daughter  of  my  father’s  first  pastor,  the  Rev.  Asahel 
Hooker,  should  join  our  congregation.  She  brought  her 
two  daughters,  though  only  the  youngest  of  them,  Sarah 
Edwards,  became  a  uniform  worshiper  with  us.  This 
daughter,  a  young  woman  of  rare  excellence  of  character, 
who  professed  to  have  been  much  benefited  by  ministra¬ 
tions  at  the  Eliot  Church,  became,  as  Mrs.  Winans,  a 
highly  valued  resident  of  Rochester,  New  York,  where, 
owing  to  progressive  paralysis,  she  departed  this  life  three 
years  since  (July  6,  1897).  Mrs.  Peck’s  mother,  Phebe 
Edwards,  was  a  granddaughter  of  President  Jonathan  Ed¬ 
wards,  the  celebrated  theologian ;  while  Mr.  Hooker  was 
a  descendant  in  the  fifth  generation  from  Thomas  Hooker, 
well  known  as  the  first  minister  of  the  first  church  in 
Hartford,  Connecticut.  At  Norwich  Mrs.  Peck  attended 
the  school  of  Miss  Lydia  Huntley,  afterwards  Mrs.  Sig¬ 
ourney,  the  poet,  and  in  1826  she  married  the  Rev.  Solo¬ 
mon  Peck,  d.d.  At  sixteen  Dr.  Peck  was  graduated 
from  Brown  University;  at  eighteen  he  was  a  tutor;  later, 
Professor  of  Latin  in  Amherst  College ;  but  was  more 
widely  known  as  Corresponding  Secretary  of  Foreign  Mis¬ 
sions  of  the  Baptist  Union.  After  the  Civil  War  Mrs. 


462 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


Peck  accompanied  her  husband  to  Beaufort,  South  Caro¬ 
lina,  and  engaged  in  Christian  work  among  the  freedmen. 
Later  he  held  useful  positions  here  at  the  North.  Dr. 
Peck  was  a  scholarly  man,  a  man  of  culture,  refinement, 
and  gentlemanliness,  as  well  as  of  superior  executive  abil¬ 
ity.  The  captiousness  of  a  few  missionaries,  and  the  per¬ 
tinacious  misapprehension  of  their  sympathizers,  occasioned 
a  severe  trial,  and  at  the  same  time  gave  occasion  for  the 
exercise  of  an  unusual  and  most  noble  Christian  forbear¬ 
ance  on  his  part. 

As  Dr.  Peck  belonged  to  a  different  religious  denom¬ 
ination,  it  was  appropriate  that  Mrs.  Peck  should  chiefly 
identify  herself  with  the  same,  rather  than  to  become  con¬ 
spicuous  in  a  connection  which  attracted  her  on  the  score 
of  ancestral  interest  and  original  convictions.  After  a 
widowhood  of  seven  years  she  died  under  the  roof  of  her 
son-in-law,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Stanger,  then  at  Cincinnati. 
With  firm  reliance  on  the  sacrificial  merits  and  high- 
priestly  intercession  of  Jesus  Christ,  she  sang  with  others, 
in  her  last  sickness,  such  favorite  hymns  as,  “  Rock  of 
ages,”  “My  faith  looks  up  to  thee,”  “To  Jesus,  the 
crown  of  my  hope.” 


WIDOWS  OF  MINISTERS. 

The  proportion  of  widows  in  the  congregation  and 
their  absolute  number  were  large.  It  was  a  noticeable 
circumstance  that  at  one  time  there  should  be  five  widows 
of  ministers  who  died  young — Mrs.  Maria  Grozer  Pack- 


HONORABLE  WOMEN. 


463, 


ard,  Mrs.  Adeline  Grozer  McGeoch,  Mrs.  Margaret  Cod- 
man  Peabody,  Mrs.  Bradford  Homer,  and  Mrs.  Maria  Rea 
Dexter.  There  were  two  whose  husbands  had  been  physi¬ 
cians —  one  the  widow  of  Dr.  Fiske  of  Worcester,  and 
one  the  widow  of  Dr.  Adams,  formerly  of  Bath,  Maine.. 
The  latter  belonged  to  a  group  of  thirteen  children,  and 
was  herself  the  mother  of  thirteen.  She  died  March  10, 
1857,  her  eighty-seventh  year.  This  suggests  that  not 
a  few  of  the  class  now  referred  to  lived  to  a  good  old 
age  —  Mrs.  Ballister,  eighty-four  (died  June,  1845);  Mrs. 
Anna  Williams  (died  November,  1855),  aged  eighty-nine 
and  some  months ;  Mrs.  Susan  Elms,  a  member  of  the 
Old  South  (died  February,  1856),  aged  eighty-four;  Miss 
Abigail  Prentiss  (died  February,  1858),  aged  eighty-seven; 
Mrs.  T.  K.  Thomas  (died  December,  1858),  aged  eighty, 
and  Mrs.  Mary  H.  Waugh,  at  the  same  age;  Mrs. 
Eleanor  V.  Ames  (died  January,  1859),  aged  eighty 
years  and  eleven  months;  Mrs.  L.  Williams  (died  Sep¬ 
tember,  i860),  aged  eighty-one;  Miss  Abigail  Seaver  (died 
December,  1861),  aged  eighty-six;  Miss  Lydia  Prentiss 
(died  March,  1863),  aged  eighty-four;  Mrs.  Lydia  G„ 
Towne,  the  mother  of  Rev.  Dr.  Joseph  Towne  (died 
September,  1863),  aged  eighty-two;  Miss  Hannah  Grozer 
(died  July,  1864),  aged  eighty-eight ;  Mrs.  Sarah  Cush¬ 
ing  (died  July,  1864),  aged  eighty;  Mrs.  Rising  (died 
August,  1865),  aged  eighty-four;  Mrs.  Sarah  Jewett  (died 
January,  1867),  aged  eighty-five;  Mrs.  Frances  Rupp 
(died  March,  1867),  aged  eighty-two;  Mrs.  Simmons  (died 


464 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


April,  1867),  aged  ninety.  Besides  these  there  were  others 
whose  names  appear  elsewhere. 

There  were  some  whose  bereavement  was  intensified 
by  circumstances  peculiarly  trying,  as  Mrs.  Birchmore. 
Her  husband  belonging  to  the  navy  was  lost  in  the  gulf 
of  Mexico ;  and  another  whose  widowhood  began  in  a 
way  yet  more  heart-rending.  There  were  those  whose 
term  of  loneliness  extended  to  thirty,  forty,  and  even  fifty 
years.  It  is  fitting  that  particular  mention  should  be 
made  of  those  who,  in  comparatively  advanced  years,  be¬ 
came  the  widows  of  ministers. 

16.  MRS.  MARY  CODMAN. 

After  the  death  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  John  Codman  at  the 
age  of  sixty-five  years,  his  widow  became  an  inmate  in 
the  family  of  her  brother,  Mr.  Ebenezer  Wheelwright, 
who  was  a  member  of  the  Eliot  Church.  Ten  years  later 
(April,  1857),  and  at  the  same  age  as  her  revered  husband, 
she  joined  the  family  on  high.  From  her  fourteenth  year 
she  had  indulged  the  hope  of  being  a  regenerate  child  of 
God.  The  great  spiritual  crisis  —  the  most  important 
that  any  human  being  experiences,  death  and  the  resur¬ 
rection  not  excepted  —  took  place  at  Bradford  Academy, 
the  same  season  with  two  young  friends  of  hers,  Harriet 
Newell,  who  found  an  early  missionary  grave  in  the  Isle 
of  France,  and  Anne  Hasseltine  Judson,  the  heroine  of 
Rangoon,  who  sleeps  alone  under  the  shade  of  a  Hopea 
tree  in  Burmah.  Mrs.  Codman  was  their  peer  in  natural 


HONORABLE  WOMEN. 


465 


endowments,  and  in  the  noble  specialty  of  Christian  de¬ 
votedness. 

Richard  Baxter  writes :  “  Ought  a  clergyman  to  marry  ? 
Yes;  but  let  him  think,  and  think,  and  think  again  before 
he  does  it.”  Dr.  Codman  did  that,  and  after  four  years 
of  pastoral  labor  he  introduced  to  the  good  people  of  the 
Second  Church,  Dorchester,  one  who  proved  eminently 
his  helper  and  theirs  also.  Every  pastor’s  wife  is  a  help 
or  hindrance  to  him.  There  is  not  in  the  land  —  neither 
at  the  Capitol  of  the  nation  nor  elsewhere  —  a  female 
position  more  honorable  or  responsible  than  hers.  If  by 
wise  domestic  counsel  and  the  perennial  flow  of  Christian 
cheerfulness  and  well-directed  cooperation  she  fill  her  ap¬ 
propriate  sphere,  then  do  pastor  and  parish  owe  her  a 
debt  which  words  can  but  imperfectly  express.  In  this 
case  there  came  a  youthful  bride,  matronly  yet  affable, 
spiritually  minded,  and  ready  to  enter  at  once  into  coop¬ 
erative  labors  with  her  husband.  And  so  she  continued, 
active  in  the  female  prayer  meetings,  the  Maternal  Associa¬ 
tion,  distributing  religious  books,  with  encouraging  words 
to  children  and  youth,  sympathizing  with  the  afflicted, 
watching  with  the  sick,  more,  perhaps,  than  any  other  indi¬ 
vidual  in  the  parish.  In  her  were  combined  to  an  unusual 
degree  dignity  with  grace,  sensibilities  delicate  but  not 
fastidious;  firmness  that  was  yet  attractively  feminine,  and 
strength  of  mind  without  the  masculine  element.  Bal¬ 
anced  energy,  refinement,  quick  and  quiet  good  sense 
were  grouped  in  rare  congruity.  “  Man  is  no  hypocrite 


466 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


in  his  pleasures,”  was  a  frequent  saying  of  hers.  She 
delighted  in  the  Assembly’s  Shorter  Catechism,  Baxter s 
Saint's  Rest ,  and  such  spiritual  songs  as  those  cunning 
artificers  of  sweet  rhythm  and  rich  Christian  sentiment, 
Watts  and  Doddridge,  Cowper  and  Montgomery,  composed. 
But  her  chief  delight  was  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  large 
portions  of  which  were  hid  in  her  heart.  Among  favorite, 
never-tiring  chapters  was  the  fourteenth  of  John’s  gospel, 
and  especially  in  her  closing  years,  till  the  summons  of 
the  last  verse  came,  “  Arise,  let  us  go  hence.” 

17.  MRS.  MARTHA  VINAL  HOOKER. 

Our  neighboring  Charlestown  was  Mrs.  Hooker’s  birth¬ 
place,  April  27,  1806.  Her  father  having  died  the  next 
year,  the  family  of  a  beloved  aunt  in  Boston  became  her 
home.  Under  the  ministry  of  Dr.  Sereno  E.  Dwight  she 
joined  Park  Street  Church  when  sixteen  years  of  age,  and 
was  at  that  time  its  youngest  member.  Academic  train¬ 
ing  was  enjoyed  in  the  excellent  schools  of  Rev.  Joseph 
Emerson  at  Saugus,  and  that  of  Miss  Z.  P.  Grant  at 
Derry,  New  Hampshire.  In  1827  she  married  Rev.  Henry 
B.  Hooker,  then  pastor  at  Lanesborough,  Massachusetts. 
Ten  years  later  Dr.  Hooker  became  pastor  of  the  First 
Church,  Falmouth,  where  he  remained  till  called  to  the  sec¬ 
retaryship  of  the  Massachusetts  Home  Missionary  Society 
(1858),  when  the  family  removed  to  Boston. 

The  good  people  of  Falmouth  pronounce  Mrs.  Hooker 
a  model  minister’s  wife.  She  was  greatly  interested  in 


HONORABLE  WOMEN. 


467 


the  Maternal  Association,  and  had  highly  valued  Sunday 
School  classes  of  young  ladies.  She  contributed  articles  to 
the  Sunday  School  papers,  and  to  the  American  Messenger. 
The  young  people  had  a  large  and  constant  share  in  her 
kind  regards.  She  formed  them  into  mission  bands,  and 
strove  in  various  ways  to  promote  their  mental  and  spirit¬ 
ual  culture.  Many  testimonies  have  reached  me  from 
those  who  came  under  her  immediate  influence,  in  regard 
to  her  tact  and  her  happy  ways.  During  the  thirty-five 
years  after  residence  in  Falmouth  ceased,  her  frequent 
summer  visits  to  that  place  served  to  keep  alive  the  most 
cordial  relations,  and  her  memory  is  fragrant  there. 

Twelve  years  of  widowhood  were  appointed  to  Mrs. 
Hooker.  The  morning  of  her  last  day  on  earth  came 
clear  and  calm  outwardly,  yet  not  more  so  than  within 
the  chamber  of  quietness  whence  for  eight  months  she 
had  not  been  able  to  go  below  stairs.  The  window  of 
that  upper  room  looked  toward  the  rising  sun,  and  her 
hand  had  been  a  good  while  on  the  latch  of  another  door, 
which  at  length  opened  inward.  Her  pilgrimage  of  eighty- 
seven  and  a  half  years  was  finished. 

l8.  MRS.  LUCY  GILPATRICK  MARSH. 

The  Eliot  City  Mission  Society  —  a  society  inde¬ 
pendent  of  the  one  in  Boston  —  was  greatly  favored  in 
the  agents  whom  it  employed.  In  no  case  was  this  more 
strikingly  true  than  that  of  Mrs.  Marsh.  From  the  hour 
of  conversion  at  twenty  years  of  age,  onward  till  the  hour 


468 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


of  death,  in  June,  1868,  she  seemed  to  be  actuated  by  the 
genuine  missionary  spirit.  The  chief  reason  for  her  leav¬ 
ing  the  home  of  childhood  in  Biddeford,  Maine,  was  the 
opposition  of  family  friends  to  her  Christian  activity.  On 
returning  home  to  minister  to  an  aged  mother,  she  had 
occasion  to  rejoice  over  the  conversion  of  that  parent 
when  approaching  three-score  and  ten.  Afterwards,  under 
the  same  circumstances,  she  was  cheered  by  the  hope  of 
her  father’s  conversion  at  near  four-score.  During  a  ten 
months’  visit  at  Biddeford  she  established  a  female  prayer 
meeting  and  several  conversions  followed.  She  also  in 
the  midst  of  much  opposition  gathered  a  Sunday  School, 
and  carried  fuel  in  her  own  arms  to  the  schoolhouse  to 
make  it  comfortable  for  the  hour  of  meeting. 

Returning  to  this  city  Mrs.  Marsh  became  the  inde¬ 
fatigable  matron  of  a  reformatory  institution;  attended  the 
prayer  meetings  of  the  church  to  which  she  belonged, 
each  of  them  preceded  by  a  preparatory  devotional  meet¬ 
ing  ;  and  in  addition  to  the  regular  Sunday  School  ser¬ 
vice,  she  once  a  week  taught  a  class  of  colored  children, 
spending  Saturday  afternoons  in  visiting  its  members, 
besides  paying  weekly  visits  to  the  inmates  in  the  House 
of  Correction.  As  the  wife  of  Rev.  Christopher  Marsh 
of  West  Roxbury  her  life  was  still  that  of  a  missionary 
laboring  in  the  byways  for  miles  around.  Owing  in  no 
small  measure  to  her  self-denying  and  energetic  efforts, 
a  place  of  worship  was  built,  for  which,  as  also  for  the 
communion  service,  she  solicited  funds.  There,  too,  she 


HONORABLE  WOMEN. 


469 


gathered  a  female  prayer  meeting  and  a  meeting  for 
mothers,  both  of  which  she  sustained  almost  unaided. 
The  Sunday  School  also  was  her  creation  and  for  a  time 
was  superintended  by  her. 

After  the  death  of  Mr.  Marsh,  whose  last  pastorate 
was  at  Sanford,  Maine,  Mrs.  Marsh  began  work  here 
(September,  1861)  as  missionary,  and  the  uext  year  joined 
the  Eliot  Church.  Singular  devotedness,  fidelity  and  good 
judgment  marked  her  whole  ministry.  The  pastor  re¬ 
garded  her  less  as  a  parishioner  than  a  colleague,  his 
senior  in  age,  a  model  of  wise,  earnest,  and  harmonious 
cooperation.  She  mentioned  to  a  friend  that  this  passage 
was  her  daily  resting-place,  “  Be  careful  for  nothing.”  Of 
nothing  that  pertained  to  herself  —  ease,  strength  or 
health  —  was  she  careful.  To  the  welfare  of  the  poor 
and  those  spiritually  perishing  she  devoted  herself  wholly. 
A  Bible  class  in  the  Mission  Sunday  School,  a  mothers’ 
meeting  and  two  weekly  prayer  meetings  were  only  a  part 
of  her  steady  occupation.  A  sewing  school  was  one 
favorite  method  of  usefulness,  and  her  coming  was  always 
the  signal  for  the  brightening  of  faces.  Visiting  from 
house  to  house  with  prayer  and  the  name  of  Jesus  on 
her  lips  occupied  the  larger  part  of  her  time.  Those 
seven  years  of  labor  in  Roxbury  were  performed  after 
Mrs.  Marsh  had  reached  her  seventieth  year.  Such  in¬ 
dustry  is  therefore  all  the  more  noteworthy.  The  record 
of  her  last  twelvemonth  showed  that,  besides  being  the 
almoner  of  various  comforts  and  delicacies  for  the  sick 


47° 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


and  destitute,  she  distributed  more  than  one  thousand 
and  two  hundred  garments  and  other  articles  among  the 
needy ;  more  than  two  thousand  religious  tracts,  papers, 
and  books,  and  made  rising  of  three  thousand  visits, 
which,  owing  to  lameness,  was  a  number  less  by  one 
thousand  than  that  of  the  year  previous.  Did  she  ever 
recount  her  labors  and  successes  with  a  tinge  of  vanity? 
Far  otherwise.  We  have  noticed  that  it  is  the  light  ears 
of  grain  which  hold  their  heads  high  and  wave  about  most 
freely.  This  noble  woman  was  a  branch  of  the  vine  so 
laden  with  fruit  as  to  hang  low ;  she  was  clothed  with 
humility.  The  concurrent  testimony  of  those  associated 
intimately  with  Mrs.  Marsh  was  that  they  found  no  flaw 
in  her  and  could  find  no  fault  with  her.  Dr.  Rufus  An¬ 
derson,  who  had  known  her  for  nearly  fifty  years,  wrote 
that  she  filled  her  various  responsible  positions  “  with 
the  unbounded  confidence  of  those  who  knew  her,  in 
her  ability,  integrity,  and  devotedness  to  the  cause  of  her 
Redeemer,  and  in  her  unwearied  efforts  for  the  salvation 
of  those  placed  under  her  care.”  Another  friend,  an 
acquaintance  of  forty  years,  stated,  “  I  never  knew  Mrs. 
Marsh  lukewarm,  or  with  a  cold  heart.  Her  life  has  been 
a  chain  of  well-doing  all  along  without  one  breakage.” 
Her  funeral  was  from  the  Eliot  Church,  June  22,  1868. 

19.  MRS.  SARAH  COLLINS  PORTER. 

Mrs.  Porter,  a  daughter  of  Rev.  Daniel  Collins,  was 
born  in  Lanesborough,  December  26,  1767.  Her  father 


HONORABLE  WOMEN. 


47  1 


after  being  pastor  —  and  the  first  pastor  of  the  church  in 
that  place  —  for  nearly  sixty  years,  died  in  his  eighty-fifth 
year.  During  the  latter  part  of  his  ministry  he  had  the 
assistance  of  colleagues;  and  Dr.  Henry  B.  Hooker  was 
one  of  his  successors  in  the  pastorate  of  the  church. 

Mrs.  Porter,  upon  the  decease  of  her  husband,  Dr. 
David  Porter  of  Catskill,  came  to  the  home  of  Mrs. 
Henry  Hill  in  Roxbury,  who  was  then  her  only  surviving 
child.  At  length  a  sudden  and  fatal  stroke  of  apoplexy 
removed  this  devoted  daughter.  Mrs.  Dr.  Anderson,  the 
sister  of  Mr.  Hill,  then  gladly  received  Mrs.  Porter,  and 
it  was  a  gratifying  providence  that  gave  her  the  oppor¬ 
tunity  once  more  to  take  the  place  of  daughter  to  one 
who  had  been  a  mother  to  her  in  early  semi-orphanage. 
Mrs.  Porter  had  become  blind  and  bedridden.  In  the 
days  of  former  health  and  strength  she  was  a  woman  of 
commanding  dignity  and  of  winning  gentleness.  It  was 
only  in  the  closing  years  that  I  had  the  pleasure  of  per¬ 
sonal  acquaintance  with  her,  and  largely  profitable  was 
that  acquaintance.  No  allusion  to  infirmities  or  other 
trials  brought  out  any  response  except  that  of  perfect 
Christian  resignation  and  of  thankfulness  for  mercies. 
One  favorite  utterance  was,  “  God’s  government  is  a  good 
government  to  live  under.”  Speak  of  accidents  in  the 
outside  world,  and  she  would  say :  “How  many  are  the 
mercies  I  have !  I  am  kept  in  great  safety.  I  receive 
no  injuries.”  When  the  Sunday  morning  bell  rang  she 
would  invariably  draw  a  handkerchief  over  her  sightless 


47  2 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


eyes,  with  the  remark,  “  I  am  now  going  to  meeting,”  and 
in  the  silence  of  her  chamber  she  would  reverently  accom¬ 
pany  worshipers  in  the  sanctuary  through  the  several 
parts  of  divine  service.  Speak  of  the  Sabbath  on  high, 
and  she  would  reply,  “  Oh,  yes !  it  is  heaven  to  be  where 
Christ  is,  and  where  no  sin  is.”  It  always  seemed  to  me 
on  retiring  from  her  room  that  I  was  leaving  the  confines 
of  heaven,  an  atmosphere  of  holy  calm,  of  saintly  cheerful¬ 
ness.  The  bright  and  blissful  presence  of  unseen  angels 
seemed  to  gather  in  quiet  ministry  around  one  who  was 
awed,  penetrated,  and  transformed  by  their  presence. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 


CHILDREN. 

I.  CARING  FOR  THE  YOUNG. 

“The  care  of  the  lambs,”  said  John  Eliot,  “is  one- 
third  part  of  the  charge  over  the  Church  of  God.”  The 
ratio  of  thoughtful  interest  in  children  and  of  gratifying 
results  has  not  been  less  in  the  Eliot  Church  than  that  esti¬ 
mate  of  Eliot.  Very  suggestive  is  the  fact  that  our  Lord 
at  his  incarnation  took  the  humblest  level  as  to  age ;  that 
as  to  condition  there  was  no  room  for  him  in  the  inn ; 
that  a  special  invitation  from  him  should  be  addressed, 
not  to  the  aged,  but  to  little  children ;  that  he  was  pecu¬ 
liarly  gratified  to  hear  children  in  the  temple  saying, 
“  Hosanna  to  the  Son  of  David,”  and  that  after  his  resur¬ 
rection  and  on  the  eve  of  ascension  to  glory,  the  Great 
Shepherd  gave  a  parting  order,  “  Feed  my  lambs.”  By 
personal  experience  Jesus  Christ  knows  the  heart  of  child¬ 
hood.  Never  by  word  or  example  did  he  discredit  the 
sacred  precincts  of  home,  or  a  father’s  household  pastor¬ 
ship.  In  the  domestic  circle  there  are  duties  which  can 
neither  be  suitably  remitted  nor  transferred.  Its  claims 
are  prior,  special,  and  paramount.  Of  my  own  publications 
the  one  most  widely  used  by  parents  and  others  is  the 
little  catechism,  entitled  “  Lambs  Fed.”  Many  thousands 
have  been  called  for  in  this  country;  and  Dr.  Henry  Bal- 


474 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


lantine  of  Ahmednagar  informed  me  (1854)  that  two 
translations  had  been  made  into  Marathi,  one  of  which 
was  extensively  used  in  the  Bombay  presidency. 

2.  EARLY  PIETY. 

There  has  been  a  thought,  not  infrequent,  that  early 
piety  betokens  early  death.  Decided  conscientiousness 
and  a  devotional  habit  on  the  part  of  a  child  have  often 
called  forth  the  remark,  “  Not  long  for  this  world.”  But 
Moses,  and  Samuel,  and  Timothy  did  not  die  young. 
What  period  of  church  history  has  there  been  without 
furnishing  proof  that  godliness  is  profitable  for  all  things, 
having  promise  of  the  life  that  now  is,  from  its  first  years 
onward  to  a  high  longevity  ?  Memorable  was  the  case 
of  Polycarp,  who  in  the  first  Christian  century  suffered 
martyrdom  at  ninety-five  years  of  age,  declaring  that  he 
had  served  Christ  for  eighty-six  years.  John  Wesley, 
who  was  a  communicant  at  the  age  of  eight,  said  toward 
the  close  of  his  career,  “  Eighty-seven  years  I  have  so¬ 
journed  on  the  earth,  endeavoring  to  do  good.”  Lady 
Huntingdon,  so  well  known  for  her  high  rank  and 
Christian  excellence,  became  deeply  anxious  regarding 
her  spiritual  welfare  at  nine  years  of  age,  and  thence  on¬ 
ward  led  a  decidedly  religious  life  till  over  four-score. 
Phebe  Bartlett,  of  whom  President  Edwards  gives  a  de¬ 
tailed  sketch,  was  a  convert  at  four  years  of  age,  during 
the  revival  of  1735  in  Northampton,  and  she  lived  be¬ 
yond  three-score  and  ten.  Her  heavenly  conversation, 


EARLY  PIETY. 


475 


her  calm  trust  in  the  Saviour,  led  to  the  conversion  of 
her  grandson,  then  a  youth,  the  late  Dr.  Justin  Edwards. 
But  what  need  is  there  of  multiplying  examples  here, 
while  every  day’s  observation  furnishes  them  ? 

It  is  one  of  the  gratifying  features  of  the  nineteenth 
century  that  it  has  witnessed  increasing  attention  to  the 
religious  welfare  of  the  young,  and  an  increasing  hopeful¬ 
ness  in  regard  to  early  conversions.  True,  the  previous 
century  showed  more  or  less  of  the  same  interest.  Presi¬ 
dent  Edwards,  in  his  Thoughts  on  the  Revival  of  Religion 
in  1740,  remarks,  “Very  many  little  children  have  been  re¬ 
markably  enlightened,  and  their  hearts  wonderfully  affected,” 
etc.  Still  farther  back,  in  the  “  Narrative  of  Conversions,” 
during  the  revival  of  1735,  he  remarks:  “It  has  hereto¬ 
fore  been  looked  on  as  a  strange  thing  when  any  have 
seemed  to  be  savingly  wrought  upon  and  remarkably 
changed  in  their  childhood.  But  now  I  suppose  that  in 
Northampton  near  thirty  were,  to  appearance,  savingly 
wrought  upon  between  ten  and  fourteen  years  of  age ; 
two  between  nine  and  ten,  and  one  of  about  four  years 
of  age.”  David  Brainerd  tells  us  that  among  the  Indians 
where  he  labored,  children  not  more  than  six  or  seven 
years  old  were  deeply  affected  by  evangelical  truth.  Dr. 
Porter  of  Andover,  in  a  Letter  on  Revivals  of  Religion 
about  the  commencement  of  the  present  century,  says, 
“Very  young  children  were  often  deeply  impressed,  and 
in  many  instances  continued  to  give  evidence  of  a  saving 
change  of  heart.”  If  there  were  more  familiarity  with 


476 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


such  facts  in  the  annals  of  the  past,  there  would  be  less 
occasion  to  make  such  citations  here. 

The  practice  of  preaching  specially  to  the  young  has 
grown  greatly  in  late  years.  Such  discourses,  when  of 
the  right  stamp,  are  usually  profitable  to  adults.  I  have 
never  known  of  a  sermon  designed  particularly  for  children 
being  blessed  to  the  conversion  of  any  of  them.  Sermons 
in  the  right  key  and  style,  delivered  without  having  them 
distinctly  in  mind,  often  impress  them.  Not  a  few  in¬ 
stances  of  that  kind  have  become  known  in  my  own  min¬ 
istry.  Religious  biography  abounds  in  the  same.  Matthew 
Henry,  the  excellent  pastor  and  commentator,  at  ten  years 
of  age  heard  a  sermon,  “  that,”  says  he,  “  melted  me.”  At 
about  the  same  age  the  celebrated  Dr.  Gill  was  thoroughly 
convinced  of  his  great  sinfulness  and  need  of  a  Saviour 
by  a  discourse  from  the  words,  “  Where  art  thou  ?  ”  Dr. 
Edward  Payson,  when  only  three  years  old,  was  known  to 
weep  under  the  preaching  of  the  gospel.  What  faithful 
and  wise  pastor  has  not  taken  note  of  the  same  thing? 

Early  piety  will  be  the  piety  of  childhood  —  children’s 
penitence,  faith,  and  love.  When  due  evidence  exists,  ad¬ 
mission  to  church  ordinances  is  their  privilege.  It  is  not 
affirmed  that  no  caution  should  be  exercised,  but  surely 
little  ones  may  now,  with  the  spirit  and  with  the  under¬ 
standing,  sing  hosannas  to  the  Son  of  David  in  his  tem¬ 
ple,  and  also  partake  of  the  paschal  supper.  Only  there 
is  praise  perfected.  Highest  symmetry  and  vigor  of 
Christian  character  are  to  be  expected  only  when,  other 


EARLY  DEATHS. 


477 


things  equal,  conversion  takes  place  in  childhood.  The 
glaring  defects  and  deformities  of  Christian  character  often 
witnessed  among  religious  people  would  be  less  frequent 
if  young  feet  were  oftener  turned  unto  Wisdom’s  ways. 
Upon  a  review  of  the  cases  of  early  membership  in  the 
Eliot  Church  prior  to  1871,  I  am  satisfied  that  the  aver¬ 
age  of  later  developments  was,  to  say  the  least,  as  satis¬ 
factory  as  that  of  adults. 

Mrs.  Susan  Huntington,  a  descendant  of  John  Eliot, 
and  wife  of  a  former  pastor  of  the  Old  South  Church, 
Boston,  chose  God  for  her  portion  at  five.  There  have 
apparently  been  such  instances  here.  Harriet  Newell,  the 
missionary,  was  a  convert  at  nine,  and  a  glorified  saint  at 
nineteen;  and  some  of  our  young  women  remind  us  of 
her. 

3.  EARLY  DEATHS. 

Fully  one-half  of  those  born  into  this  world  die  in 
infancy.  I  know  of  nothing  so  pathetic  and  so  mysterious 
as  the  remains  of  a  little  one,  beautiful  yet  cold,  lying  in 
its  casket  ready  for  interment.  The  dainty  little  shroud 
envelops  something  that  seemed  designed  for  life,  for 
growth,  for  great  and  prolonged  activities  here  below. 
There  is  a  strange  suggestiveness  about  the  little  toys 
and  little  shoes  that  are  laid  away  so  carefully.  “  Not 
dead  but  sleepeth.”  A  rose  of  Sharon  once  opened  in 
a  tiny  hand  as  it  lay  on  the  bosom  in  the  coffin.  It  was 
a  specimen  and  a  symbol  of  beautiful  development.  That 
which  escaped  from  such  precious  remains  is  no  less  truly 


47  S 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


immortal  than  if  there  had  been  an  earthly  career  of 
three-score  and  ten  years.  The  third  funeral  which  I  had 
occasion  to  attend  as  pastor  was  that  of  a  young  child, 
and  such  continued  to  be  the  proportion  for  thirty  years. 
Over  one  hundred  and  fifty  times  were  the  fountains  of 
tears  opened  on  beholding  the  closed  eyes  of  young 
sleepers  who  had  not  lived  more  than  four  years,  and 
a  majority  of  them  only  a  briefer  period.  The  sensibili¬ 
ties  of  a  pastor  will  be  all  the  more  lively  if  he  has  had 
personal  experience  of  such  bereavement.  It  was  early 
in  my  ministry  that  an  infant  of  eleven  months  died  in 
my  arms,  and  it  seemed  as  if  I  placed  her  immediately 
in  the  hands  of  Him  who  saith  “  Suffer  the  little  children 
to  come  unto  me.”  Up  to  that  moment  heaven  had 
never  seemed  so  near,  nor  its  gate  of  pearl  so  plainly 
open.  Those  tiny  feet  will  never  go  astray  there,  nor 
will  those  lips  utter  an  untruth. 

Reacting  benefits  to  parents  similarly  situated  have 
been  noticed.  The  loss  of  a  child  has  often  proved  the 
gain  of  a  parent.  Sending  an  envoy  forward  has  drawn 
thought  and  heart  upward.  While  tears  have  rained 
upon  a  hallowed  spot  in  the  cemetery,  the  bow  of  promise 
has  stood  forth  brightly.  It  is  not  Rachel’s  weeping  but 
her  refusal  to  be  comforted  that  merits  chiding.  She 
fails  to  consider  what  an  honor  it  is  to  be  thus  repre¬ 
sented  on  high,  what  a  favor  it  is  to  have  one’s  children 
trained  in  a  family  so  superior,  so  much  safer  than  any 
household  here ;  how  much  faster  the  advance  in  knowl- 


OUR  YOUNG  SAINTS. 


479 


edge  and  holiness  there  than  under  the  most  favorable 
conditions  on  earth!  In  the  Loyalty  Islands  it  has  been 
a  custom  to  kill  the  mother  or  some  near  relative  of 
a  deceased  child,  that  it  may  not  be  a  forsaken  wan¬ 
derer  in  another  world.  We  long  to  send  word  to  such 
pagans  how  ample  and  tender  is  the  care  of  little  ones 
in  heaven;  how  the  merits  and  mediation  of  Jesus  Christ 
secure  them  a  place  there,  as  we  believe  ;  how  our  Lord 
delights  to  have  them  around  him,  otherwise  more  than 
half  the  inhabitants  of  that  world  would  not  be  fruits  of 
early  dying. 

“  Weep  not  when  ye  tell  the  story 
Of  the  dead ; 

’  Tis  a  sunbeam  joined  the  glory 
Overhead  ! 

‘For  of  such  sweet  babes  is  heaven,’ 

Jesus  said.” 

Regarding  such  as  died  before  reaching  their  twelfth 
year,  and  without  joining  the  visible  church,  limitations  of 
space  will  admit  of  only  two  or  three  examples. 

4.  OUR  YOUNG  SAINTS. 

(a)  John  Eliot  Bowles  was  a  conscientious  boy,  fond 
of  his  Bible,  regular  in  his  devotions,  and  ready  to  make 
confession  when  he  had  done  wrong.  The  twenty-third 
Psalm  was  a  favorite  with  him,  and  also  the  hymn, 

“  Rock  of  Ages,  cleft  for  me, 

Let  me  hide  myself  in  thee.” 


480 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


One  day  in  February,  1853,  when  the  dinner  gong 
struck,  he  started  a  little  in  advance  of  the  family,  and  in 
sliding  down  on  the  balustrade  lost  his  balance  and  fell, 
his  head  striking  on  the  marble  floor.  In  the  fall  one 
scream  was  heard,  but  he  did  not  breathe  again.  One 
minute  in  the  land  of  the  living,  the  next  in  the  world  of 
spirits.  When  this  was  announced  to  the  Sunday  School, 
all  hearts  stood  still  for  a  moment. 

(b)  Guy  Richards  was  another  lad  of  the  same  age, 
ten  years,  as  John  E.  Bowles,  but  the  circumstances  of 
departure  were  different.  It  was  after  six  months  of  suf¬ 
fering,  months,  however,  of  uncomplaining,  quiet  endurance. 
For  several  weeks  he  had  not  been  able  to  recline  even 
for  a  moment,  and  kept  a  sitting  posture  all  the  while. 
For  a  time  he  was  much  troubled  with  a  sense  of  sinful¬ 
ness,  but  an  intelligent  trust  in  the  Saviour  brought  peace 
at  length.  “Christ  comforts  me,”  he  would  say.  In  reply 
to  words  of  affection,  and  grief  at  parting  with  him,  he 
replied,  “  But  you  have  Jesus.”  Heaven  seemed  attractive 
to  him  chiefly  because  Christ  was  there.  When  the  hymn, 
“  There  is  a  fountain,”  was  sung,  and  the  stanza, 

“  Dear,  dying  Lamb,  thy  precious  blood  ” 

was  commenced,  a  sweet  smile  came  over  his  face,  and  so 
he  left  us.  That  was  in  November,  1858. 

(c)  Frances  Elizabeth  Murke.  It  was  in  the  autumn 
of  1857  that  this  dear  child  of  only  five  summers  was 


OUR  YOUNG  SAINTS. 


481 


taken  from  us.  Her  parents  were  both  of  foreign  nativity, 
one  coming  from  Norway,  the  other  from  Scotland. 

Fanny  was  a  noticeably  dutiful  girl,  a  member  of  the 
infant  class  in  the  Sunday  School,  prompt  to  learn  texts 
of  Scripture,  and  verses  of  sacred  poetry.  She  was  re¬ 
markably  conscientious,  and  seemed  to  have  habitually  a 
glad  sense  of  God’s  presence.  In  her  last  sickness  she 
sang  favorite  hymns,  so  far  as  labored  breathing  would 
allow.  Before  sickness  came  on  she  often  spoke  of  heaven, 
and  of  going  to  be  with  Jesus,  and  would  ask  questions 
like  this,  “  What  do  they  do  there  ?  ”  Her  thoughts  ran 
on  this  line,  “Jesus  took  little  children  in  his  arms;  he 
will  take  me,  too.”  Shortly  before  breathing  her  last  she 
sang : 

“  Mighty  God,  while  angels  bless  thee, 

May  an  infant  sing  thy  praise? 

Lord  of  all  in  earth  and  heaven, 

Let  us  now  our  voices  raise, 

Hallelujah !  Hallelujah ! 

Praise  the  Lord  !  ” 

As  her  father  stood  weeping  over  her,  she  said, 
“Don’t  cry,  papa;  Fanny  is  going  to  heaven;  Fanny  is 
going  to  Jesus.”  And  so  she  went,  we  believe,  just  at 
early  dawn  of  a  Lord’s  Day  morning. 

These  hosannas  to  Christ  on  earth  are  preparatory, 
no  doubt,  to  hosannas  in  heaven.  When  the  golden  bowl 
of  young  life  here  is  broken,  and  the  silver  cord  loosed, 
then  comes  the  harp  of  gold  never  to  be  unstrung.  Ran¬ 
somed  children  form  a  large  part  of  the  choir  of  heaven. 


482 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


It  is  not  designed  to  make  the  impression  that  our 
children  were  all  sweet  little  cherubs,  even  when  expect¬ 
ing  immediate  departure.  A  girl  of  ten  summers,  sick 
beyond  any  thought  of  recovery,  continued  petulant  In 
the  midst  of  excruciating  pain  she  exclaimed,  “  Mother,  I 
am  dying,  good-by !  ”  “  O,  my  dear,”  said  the  mother,  “  I 

can  hardly  think  you  are  dying.”  “  Well,  I  am  dying,  and 
I  think  it  is  real  ugly  in  you  not  to  bid  me  good-by.” 
She  recovered,  and  retained  more  or  less  of  the  por¬ 
cupine.  But  it  was  a  beautiful  good-by  that  a  dear 
German  boy,  who  had  been  long  wasting  with  consump¬ 
tion,  gave  just  as  articulation  failed.  “  I  am  not  dying,” 
said  he  to  his  father;  “  I  am  going  to  Jesus.”  In  her  last 
moments  little  Caroline  was  trying  to  explain  to  her 
deaf-mute  father  that  she  was  going  to  a  better  home ; 
but  in  spelling  out  “  beautiful  home  ”  with  her  fingers, 
her  hand  fell  pulseless  on  the  pillow.  The  aunt  of  a 
young  girl,  who  had  only  a  minute  or  two  remaining, 
began  to  repeat  to  the  child,  “Jesus  said,  suffer  the  little 
children  to  come  unto  me  ”  —  but  choking  with  emotion, 
could  go  no  farther.  The  young  sufferer  then  added, 
“  For  of  such  ”  —  and  with  that  her  breath  and  life  were 
gone. 

Intensely  pathetic  scenes  and  utterances  crowd  upon 
recollection.  At  the  funeral  of  a  precious  lad  (1869)  thirty 
of  his  schoolmates  stood  round  the  casket,  all  of  them 
in  tears.  At  the  funeral  of  a  young  lady,  whose  features 
were  peculiarly  pleasing,  her  little  cousin,  who  had  never 


OUR  YOUNG  SAINTS. 


483 


before  seen  a  corpse,  after  gazing  a  few  minutes,  said 

aloud,  “Mama,  are  all  angels  so  beautiful?”  Very  touch¬ 

ing  it  was  to  see  an  affectionate  German  child,  not  yet 
two  years  old,  trying  to  find  her  deceased  father.  She 
pulled  away  a  pillow ;  then  looked  under  the  bed,  and 

could  be  pacified  only  when  taken  to  the  casket,  where, 

kissing  the  cold  lips,  she  shrank  back  and  cried  aloud. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 


EPILOGUE. 

i.  Harmony  amidst  diversity  will  impress  any  one 
upon  a  glance  at  the  period  which  has  been  under 
review.  There  were  elements  in  the  church  suggestive 
of  anything  but  homogeniousness.  At  one  point  in  the 
pastorate  —  it  was  in  the  twenty-first  year  —  the  writer 
found  that  Hindustan,  Africa,  the  West  Indies,  Nor¬ 
way,  Sweden,  and  Wales,  had  each  sent  us  two  mem¬ 
bers;  the  Sandwich  Islands,  three  members;  Germany, 
eight;  Ireland,  eleven;  England,  twelve;  the  British 
Provinces,  twenty;  and  Scotland,  twenty-four.  More 
than  a  hundred,  or  one  in  six  of  the  whole  number 
(637)  were  born  elsewhere  than  in  the  United  States. 
These  and  other  differences  could  hardly  fail  to  be 
noticed  on  occasions  when  groups  of  converts  were 
welcomed  to  our  fellowship.  In  one  instance  the  four 
had  their  birth  respectively  in  Massachusetts,  Scotland, 
Germany,  and  Syria.  In  another  instance,  out  of  five, 
three  were  from  as  many  different  states  of  our  Union, 
one  from  India,  and  one  from  Hawaii.  Previous  eccle¬ 
siastical  affinities  of  those  coming  by  letter,  or  on  first 
confession  of  faith,  were  various  —  Baptist,  Freewill 
Baptist,  Methodist,  German  Methodist,  English  Inde¬ 
pendents,  Episcopalian,  Presbyterian,  Lutheran,  Dutch 


EPILOGUE. 


485 


Reformed,  and  Associate  Reformed.  On  the  score 
of  age  there  were  wide  differences.  Limiting  our  view 
to  converts  who  presented  themselves  for  public  assent 
to  the  Articles  of  Faith  and  the  Church  Covenant, 
fully  one-half  were  minors  —  one  being  ten  years  of 
age ;  two,  twelve  years  of  age ;  four,  thirteen ;  ten,  four¬ 
teen  ;  fifteen  were  fifteen ;  while  nineteen  had  reached 
their  seventeenth  year.  Of  those  young  friends  eighteen 
had  been  baptized  in  infancy  by  myself.  For  the 
remaining  period  till  1871,  these  various  proportions 
appear  to  have  been  substantially  the  same,  though  the 
ratio  of  native-American  birth  and  other  points  of 
coincidence  were  steadily  increasing. 

Upon  first  thought  it  might  seem  that  a  body 
thus  formed  would  be  only  a  loose  aggregation ;  that 
elective  affinity  must  surely  run  lines  of  separation, 

resolving  the  constituents  into  groups  according  to 
nationality,  political  affinity,  grade  of  culture,  valuation 
in  the  assessors’  books ;  that  cabals,  coteries,  cliques 
were  inevitable,  and  inevitably  accompanied  by  jealousies 
and  grudges.  Whereas  nothing  of  the  kind  appeared. 

Three  or  four  crotchety  individuals  have  been  referred 
to ;  but  being  at  most  only  one  in  a  hundred,  their 

idiosyncrasies  reacted  favorably,  even  to  binding  together 
the  brotherhood  in  closer  bonds. 

Individuality  was  not  sacrificed.  The  members  were 
not  so  many  peas  in  a  peck.  They  were  so  many 

various  instruments  harmonizing  in  a  concert.  I  have 


486 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


never  known,  personally  or  indirectly,  a  church  in 
which,  for  so  long  a  time,  there  was  such  absence  of 
alienations,  the  term  aristocracy  never  being  heard,  and 
complaint  or  grumbling  almost  unknown.  Kind  feeling 
and  Christian  bearing  were  manifest.  Newcomers  and 
occasional  visitors  would  sometimes  say,  What  a  social, 
genial,  loving  people  you  are !  The  relation  of  church 
officers  among  themselves  and  to  the  brotherhood  in 
general,  as  well  as  pastoral  relations,  continued  without 
jar.  Meanwhile  we  had  no  occasion  to  call  a  council 
of  sister  churches,  while  of  the  eighty  or  more  letters- 
missive  received  by  us,  nine  were  for  advice  regarding 
internal  matters,  some  if  not  most  of  which  had  be¬ 
come  the  occasion  of  variance.  The  prevailing  charac¬ 
teristics  and  tone  of  the  Eliot  Church  suggested  not 
unnaturally  the  final  assemblage  to  which  men  will 
come  from  the  east  and  from  the  west,  from  the  north 
and  from  the  south,  and  sit  down  with  Abraham,  Isaac, 
and  Jacob  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  Foreigners  ceased 
to  feel  like  foreigners.  They  had  become  fellow-citi¬ 
zens  in  a  Christian  commonwealth.  Sometimes,  to  be 
sure,  I  saw  the  eye  moisten  as  their  thoughts  reverted 
to  native  hill  and  stream,  to  the  father,  mother,  and 
pastor  of  early  days.  Here  was  a  motive  for  kindness 
the  same  as  was  anciently  enforced  upon  Israel,  “  For 
ye  know  the  heart  of  a  stranger.” 

One  secret  of  the  social  harmony  that  existed  prob¬ 
ably  lay  in  the  tone  of  public  ministrations.  Jehovah 


EPILOGUE. 


487 


of  hosts,  in  his  immeasurable  exaltation  as  sole  crea¬ 
tor  and  supreme  ruler;  in  his  amazing  condescension 
and  loving-kindness  to  sinful  man,  as  seen  in  the  Un¬ 
speakable  Gift  —  the  incarnation  of  the  Eternal  Son, 
his  humiliation,  his  entrancing  perfection  of  character, 
his  atoning  sacrifice,  his  triumphant  resurrection  and 
ascension,  his  adorable  headship,  his  mediation  in  be¬ 
half  of  the  lost,  and  the  absolute  assurance  of  salva¬ 
tion  to  all  who  humbly  and  penitently  trust  in  him, 
and  their  unutterable  blessedness  for  ever  and  ever  — 
these  are  leading  truths  which  the  author  of  our  being 
designed  should  sway  mind  and  heart.  In  the  light 
thereof  social  differences  seem  slight.  A  great  truth 
duly  apprehended  dislodges  trifles,  and  has  a  signally 
assimilating  power.  We  of  this  academy,  said  an  ancient 
philosopher,  have  no  leisure  to  mind  such  things  as  the 
affairs  of  the  court.  The  demands  of  holy  living,  of 
Christ-like  beneficence,  once  heartily  accepted,  appear 
infinitely  great  and  dwarf  other  things  to  the  infinitely 
little.  No  change  can  come  over  a  man  so  great 
as  the  discovery  how  sinful  selfishness  is  and  how 
transcendently  beautiful  is  holiness.  The  one  epoch  of 
existence  is,  not  separation  of  soul  and  body,  but  eman¬ 
cipation  from  the  controlling  influence  of  what  is  purely 
personal,  local,  trivial,  and  becoming  linked  loyally  to 
something  higher  than  aught  that  either  begins  here  or 
ends  here,  the  realm  of  celestial  goodness  and  saintship. 
“  What  will  you  now  do  with  your  astronomy,”  said  a 


488 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


friend  to  an  astronomer  who  had  become  a  convert  to 
spiritual  Christianity.”  “  I  am  now  bound  for  heaven,” 
said  he,  “  and  I  take  the  stars  in  my  way.”  That  is 
it;  instead  of  God’s  mere  works  in  the  eye,  God  him¬ 
self,  and  heaven  in  the  heart.  It  has  been  the  same 
substantially  alike  with  scientist  and  peasant. 

2.  A  HAPPY  PASTORATE. 

In  the  early  days  of  my  pastorate  an  ex-minister  said 
to  me  that  if  he  had  known  what  trials  were  before  him 
he  would  never  have  gone  into  the  pulpit.  Surprise-  was 
awakened.  Looking  back  from  the  present  standpoint, 
surprise  waxes  tenfold  greater.  The  three  decades  of 
active  service  were  a  joyous  period.  True,  it  was  not 
without  some  inconveniences.  For  example,  I  had  occa¬ 
sion  to  make  ten  changes  in  arrangements  for  boarding 
or  housekeeping.  Each  change  led  to  a  loss  virtually  of 
several  weeks.  In  one  instance  I  looked  at  not  less  than 
thirty  houses,  regarding  every  one  of  which  there  was 
some  insuperable  objection.  Then,  too,  the  increasing 
presence  of  a  certain  foreign  element  in  the  population 
was  not  an  agreeable  circumstance.  To  find  the  outcrop¬ 
ping  of  stealthy  proselytism  and  open  animosity,  was  not 
promotive  of  neighborhood  comfort.  In  more  than  one 
of  our  families  it  was  found  that  a  child  mumbled  some¬ 
thing  at  the  table,  and  elsewhere,  which  proved  to  be 
“  Hail,  Mary.”  They  had  been  drilled  by  Roman  Cath¬ 
olic  domestics  into  a  belief  that  salvation  depends  on 


EPILOGUE. 


489 


repeating  Ave  Maria.  Our  Mission  Sunday  School  was 
denounced  from  the  pulpit  by  a  priest.  A  neighbor  of 
mine,  after  discharging  a  Catholic  servant,  found  his  house 
set  on  fire  four  times.  A  member  of  our  church,  whose 
house  was  on  fire,  crossed  over  the  street  to  where  stood 
a  woman,  who  remarked,  “  I  wish  all  the  houses  on  your 
side  would  burn  up  and  burn  the  Protestants  in  them.” 
Denunciation  and  dense  ignorance  should  awaken  pity 
and  kind  Christian  efforts  in  behalf  of  the  erring.  One 
of  my  family,  falling  in  with  a  girl  who  was  on  her  way 
to  St.  Joseph’s  Church,  entered  into  pleasant  conversation 
with  her,  and,  among  other  questions,  asked,  “  Who  came 
into  the  world  to  save  sinners  ?  ”  She  answered,  “  The 
Sisters  of  Charity.”  Pitiable,  yet  comparatively  pardonable. 
A  letter  was  shown  me  from  a  person  of  an  entirely  dif¬ 
ferent  grade,  a  person  of  culture,  who  stood  in  most  inti¬ 
mate  relations  to  the  recipient,  and  who  had  become  a 
pervert.  I  was  allowed  to  take  a  copy.  The  following  is 
one  of  the  paragraphs :  “  I  abhor  Protestantism,  because 
I  know  all  about  it;  because  I  know  that  it  is  a  per¬ 
petual  contempt  of  God,  a  perpetual  rejection  of  Christ, 
a  perpetual  hatred  of  the  truth,  and  for  all  who  intelli¬ 
gently  and  willfully  follow  it,  it  is  eternal  damnation.  I 
hate  it  and  abominate  it  as  an  evil  of  the  devil’s  own 
hatching,  and  I  despise  it  as  much  as  I  hate  it.”  The 
foregoing  were  doubtless  extreme  and  exceptional  cases. 
Such  are  apparently  less  representative  of  the  present 
than  of  that  period.  Utterances  of  that  kind  were,  how- 


49° 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


ever,  too  common  to  make  fellow-citizenship  entirely 
agreeable. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  were  tokens  of  partial  and 
even  complete  emancipation  from  the  power  of  Popery. 
A  couple  came  to  me  to  be  married  because  the  priest 
would  not  marry  them  during  Lent.  Several  who  had 
been  brought  up  in  the  Roman  Catholic  belief  —  nearly 
all  of  them  women,  one  of  whom  had  been  a  nun  — 
joined  the  Eliot  Church.  Some  of  them  suffered,  in  con¬ 
sequence,  a  measure  of  persecution  from  relatives.  Escape 
or  redress  was  nearly  impossible.  A  little  boy  —  noble 
fellow !  —  after  his  widowed  mother  had  become  an  intelli¬ 
gent  Protestant,  spent  a  night  at  his  grandmother’s,  and 
on  going  to  bed  kneeled  down  and  repeated,  “Jesus, 
tender  shepherd,”  etc.  “  Where  did  you  learn  that  ?  ”  said 
the  grandmother.  “  At  the  Sabbath  School,”  answered 
the  lad.  “  What  Sabbath  School  ?  ”  “  Mr.  Thompson’s.” 

“Never  go  there  again,”  added  the  old  lady  with  a  threat. 
“Now,  look  up  to  this  picture  of  the  Holy  Virgin,  and 
pray.”  The  boy,  dropping  his  head,  repeated  the  second 
commandment. 

Illness,  recurring  often,  was  indeed  a  trial,  and  a 
severe  trial,  chiefly  because  of  interference  with  official 
labor.  Deaths  in  my  own  family  circle  fed  the  fountain 
of  sympathy  with  others  who  were  bereaved.  But  amidst 
all,  there  was  joyful  absorption  in  ministerial  duties. 
Annoyances  and  sorrows  failed  to  shut  out  the  sunlight 
by  day,  and  there  were  no  thorns  under  the  pillow  at 


EPILOGUE. 


49  1 

night.  For  one  thing,  disquieting  rumors  about  concerns 
personal  to  myself  did  not  come  to  my  ears.  The  least 
probable  story  —  after  one  of  Dr.  Charles  Finney’s  books 
had  been  lent  from  my  library  to  a  lady  of  another 
congregation  —  was  that  I  had  become  a  perfectionist. 
Somewhere  in  the  year  1868,  it  came  to  me  from  three 

different  sources  that  Colonel  -  called  with  a  request 

to  have  notice  from  the  pulpit  given  of  a  fair  to  aid  dis¬ 
abled  soldiers  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  and 
that  the  request  was  discourteously  declined.  In  point  of 

fact,  Colonel  -  was  never  in  my  house,  and  I  never 

had  communication  with  or  from  him  but  once,  and  that 
was  five  years  previous,  nor  was  the  request  referred  to 
made  by  any  one. 

There  was  exemption  from  one  trial  to  which  many 
ministers  of  our  day  are  subject,  brief  pastorates  and  inef¬ 
fectual  candidacies.  Forbearance  and  lenity  on  the  part 
of  the  church  favored  my  gratification  in  the  stability  of 
sacred  relations.  The  writer  never  heard  of  another 
church,  the  pastorship  of  which  he  would  have  preferred, 
nor  did  he  listen  favorably  to  overtures  for  a  change, 
whether  to  a  different  pulpit,  or,  as  twice  solicited,  to  a 
college  professorship,  or  when  three  times  a  chair  was 
offered  in  a  theological  seminary.  Valuable  service  could 
thus  be  rendered  to  those  institutions  by  declining. 
Changeableness  has  never  characterized  the  Eliot  Church. 
Between  1842  and  1871,  twenty-four  Congregational 
churches  were  organized  in  Boston  and  the  six  adjoin- 


492  ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 

ing  cities  or  towns ;  while  eight  were  merged  in  other 
churches,  and  eleven  disbanded.  Eighty-five  pastors  were 
installed,  and  the  number  of  dismissions  were  painfully 
numerous. 

Whatever  else  there  might  be,  conditions  and  cir¬ 
cumstances  to  gladden  the  heart  never  failed.  Our  place 
of  worship  required  enlargement  at  two  different  times. 
The  salary  was  raised  more  than  once  or  twice,  but  not 
at  any  suggestion  of  mine.  Publications  in  book-form 
resulted,  for  the  most  part,  from  seasons  of  sickness  which 
barred  the  pulpit,  and  from  the  employment  of  an  amanu¬ 
ensis,  which  for  many  years  was  required  by  weakness  of 
the  eyes.  I  could  never  have  performed  the  manual  labor 
and  other  forms  of  needful  labor.  One  work  went 
through  twelve  editions ;  and  this  side  matter  of  author¬ 
ship  found  not  a  little  compensation  in  testimonies,  oral 
and  written,  from  a  good  many  sources,  of  conversion 
and  spiritual  helpfulness. 

It  was  along  the  same  lines,  those  last  named,  that 
chief  joy  arose  for  thirty  years.  Frequent  shortcomings, 
and  depression  at  times,  must  be  acknowledged.  But  I 
am  not  now  seated  at  a  public  confessional.  Whatever 
might  be  the  consciousness  of  deficiencies  in  the  pulpit, 
that  was  still  a  place  of  delight.  Approaching  the  house 
of  worship  along  a  shaded  avenue,  I  seemed  to  hear  in 
the  voice  of  the  tolling  bell  an  invitation  as  sweet  as  it 
was  solemn  —  Come  all  ye  that  fear  the  Lord,  bow  down 
before  Him !  All  ye  weary  and  heavy  laden,  come  and 


EPILOGUE. 


493 


find  rest  to  the  soul !  Sons  and  daughters  of  affliction, 
come  and  pour  out  your  hearts  !  Come  rich  and  poor; 
come  youth  in  thy  freshness,  come  man  of  gray  hairs ; 
come  father  and  mother  with  the  children ;  come  widow 
in  thy  loneliness !  Our  Heavenly  Father  bids  all  to 
come  ! 

Pastoral  visitation,  too,  had  its  joys  —  joys  not  easily 
expressed.  Tokens  of  personal  regard  —  oral,  floral,  and 
in  other  forms,  were  indeed  abundant;  there  was  unfail¬ 
ing  kindness  and  generosity;  but  the  highest  gratification 
sprang  from  witnessing  beautiful  developments  of  char¬ 
acter.  These  were  usually  gradual,  though  sometimes 
rapid.  Thought  uniformly  ran  forward  to  the  future  of 
each  individual.  Not  only  the  educated  and  conspicuous, 
but  often  those  in  humblest  positions  and  of  scantiest  cul¬ 
ture  showed  elevation  of  soul  and  unselfish  breadth  of 
view.  Not  a  few  instances  now  rise  before  me.  A  pecu¬ 
liarly  amiable  and  retiring  member  of  the  church,  extremely 
limited  in  her  means,  requested  with  dying  breath,  that  a 
certain  sum  should  be  handed  me  in  aid  of  missions.  A 
widowed  mother,  whose  barrel  and  cruise  were  never  full 
nor  ever  empty,  charged  her  daughter  to  pay,  of  a  certain 
amount,  one-third  to  the  home  cause  and  two-thirds  to 
the  foreign.  I  was  with  a  woman  in  paroxysms  of  dis¬ 
tress  during  the  last  hour  of  life,  who  uttered  no  com¬ 
plaint  and  only  thanks  for  the  Unspeakable  Gift  given 
for  all.  Soon  after  her  funeral  I  called  on  the  bereaved 
husband,  who  brought  to  me  the  purse  which  had  not 


494 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


yet  been  opened,  and  which  was  to  help  send  the  gospel 
to  perishing  heathen,  who  engaged  her  dying  thoughts. 
A  miss  of  fourteen  drew  out  from  beneath  the  pillow  on 
which  her  head  was  resting  for  the  last  time,  bright  coins 
for  the  children’s  fund  for  foreign  missions.  I  can  now 
see  those  cold,  white  hands  —  each  arm  to  appearance  in 
a  shroud  —  dropping  contributions  into  the  Lord’s  treas¬ 
ury.  With  special  vividness  there  comes  to  mind  the 
case  of  a  dependent  widow  away  back  in  the  forties 
(1848),  who  for  the  last  two  years  of  her  life  was  unable 
to  get  to  church  or  to  the  monthly  concert.  She  was  also 
unable  to  read  the  Missionary  Herald ’  for  a  cancerous 
affection  was  consuming  her  eyes.  Suffering  was  intense. 
When  the  great  change  came  near,  the  daughter  said, 
“  Mother,  what  is  your  strongest  desire  now  ?  ”  After  a 
moment’s  pause,  she  replied,  “  The  conversion  of  the 
world ;  the  conversion  of  the  world  !  ” 

Bright  prospects  for  eternity  gilded  scores  of  homes. 
During  the  period  specially  in  mind  more  than  seven¬ 
teen  thousand  calls  were  made.  There  was  an  elastic 
step  in  passing  from  house  to  house ;  and  no  wonder 
when  the  record  of  a  single  afternoon,  not  wholly 
peculiar,  suggests  what  tides  of  pastoral  enjoyment  were 
experienced.  Of  three  visits,  the  first  was  on  a  widow, 
aged  eighty-eight,  who  had  long  been  eminent  as  a 
Christian,  and  deeply  respected  as  the  wife  of  a  prom¬ 
inent  minister.  In  the  course  of  conversation,  “  I  must 
cling  to  Him,”  said  she ;  “  I  cannot  help  loving  Him ; 


EPILOGUE. 


495 


He  is  the  dear,  precious  Jesus.”  The  second  visit  was 
with  a  plain  old  lady  of  seventy  just  recovering  from 
severe  sickness.  “  I  have  been  thinking  a  great  deal 
about  what  they  do  in  heaven.”  “  And  what  are  your 
thoughts  about  it?”  “Well,  my  small  idea  is  that 
they  don’t  do  much  besides  serve  and  praise  Christ. 
He  is  the  foundation  and  topstone,  all  in  all.”  The 
third  talk  was  with  an  ingenuous  little  boy  eight  years 
old.  After  many  things  had  passed,  “Well,  James,  do 
you  hope  to  grow  up  to  be  a  useful  Christian  ?  ”  “  I 
would  rather  die  and  be  with  Christ;  I  should  be  so 
much  more  like  Him,  and  I  shouldn’t  sin  any  more.” 

Not  less  than  three  thousand  five  hundred  scholars 
had  been  in  the  Sunday  School,  and  over  a  thousand 
individuals  had  joined  the  church.  It  seemed,  and  still 
seems,  that  if  heaven  had  only  our  Lord  and  departed 
members  of  the  Eliot  Church,  it  would  not  be  a  small 
heaven,  and  would  be  the  abode  of  joy  unspeakable 
and  full  of  glory.  To  be  on  terms  of  hallowed  inti¬ 
macy  year  after  year  with  such  saints,  young  and  old ; 
to  see  men,  women,  and  children  coming  out  of  dark¬ 
ness  into  God’s  marvellous  light ;  to  be  an  instrument 
in  the  divine  hand  for  binding  up  broken  hearts ;  to 
find  so  many  tried  ones  reposing  sweetly  on  prom¬ 
ises  exceeding  great  and  precious ;  to  have  opportunity 
to  preach  Christ  and  Him  crucified  once  a  week,  and 
to  speak  privately  of  Him  every  day  in  the  week 
—  these  things  enable  me  to  enter  fully  into  the  expe- 


496 


ELIOT  MEMORIAL. 


rience  of  John  Brown,  of  Haddington:  “Were  God 
to  present  me  with  the  dukedom  of  Argyle  on  the 
one  hand,  and  the  being  a  minister  of  the  Gospel, 
with  the  stipend  which  I  have  had,  on  the  other,  so 
pleasant  hath  the  ministry  been  to  me,  notwithstand¬ 
ing  all  my  weakness  and  fears  of  little  success,  I  would 
instantly  prefer  the  latter.” 


THE  END. 


INDEX 


Abbott,  Jacob,  30,  34,  283-285. 

Abbott,  J.  S.  C.,  34-37. 

Absences,  163-169. 

Adam,  Thomas,  165. 

Adams,  Asher,  349. 

Adams,  Rev.  C.  S.,  229-230. 

Adams,  J.  Q.,  350. 

Adams,  Dr.  N.,  40,  186. 

Adams,  Solomon,  288-290. 

Adams,  Dr.  William,  159. 

Alcott,  W.  A.,  287-288. 

Amanuensis,  166. 

Ambrose,  102. 

Amelia,  Princess,  426. 

American  Board,  138,  154. 

Anderson,  Rev.  E.,  401. 

Anderson,  Mrs.  E.  H.,  456-461. 
Anderson,  Miss  E.  H.,  425-427. 
Anderson,  F.  E.,  298-300. 

Anderson,  H.  H.,  309-310. 

Anderson,  Dr.  R.,  138,  155,  187, 188,  239- 
242,  263. 

Anniversaries,  151-157. 

Antietam,  Battle  of,  162. 

Arianism,  18. 

Army  Service,  157-163. 

Artists,  332-337. 

Ashley  Church,  25. 

Associate  Pastor,  168. 

Assimilation,  486. 

Atkins,  M.  E.,  427-428. 

Awakening,  Evan’l,  25,  26. 

Backup,  Miss  E.  E.,  279-280. 

Bad  Boys,  140. 

Baker,  Abel,  154. 

Baker,  C.  H.,  422-423. 

Ballister,  J.,  349. 

Bannister,  William  B.,  195. 

Baptism,  99. 


Baptist  Church,  28,  31. 

Bartlett,  Phebe,  174. 

Basford,  M.  J.,  441. 

Basil,  165. 

Baxter,  Richard,  164. 

Beecher,  Dr.  L.,  188. 

Beecher,  Laban  S.,  73,  349. 
Bell,  Ann,  430-431. 

Bell,  Dr.  Robert,  330-331. 
Belsham,  17,  63. 

Berry,  N.  C.,  308-309. 

Beza,  164. 

Bible  Distribution,  147. 
Biographical  Sketches,  193-472. 
Bible  Study,  127-128. 

Blindness,  339. 

Bliss,  S.,  371-372. 

Boardman,  S.  E.,  414-415. 
Bond,  A.  M.,  428-429. 

Bond,  C.  W.,  429-430. 

Bond,  Richard,  67,  357-358. 
Boston,  2,  3. 

Bowditch,  168. 

Bowes,  P.  M.,  343-344. 

Bowker,  Mrs.  A.,  84. 

Bowles,  J.  E  ,  479-480. 

Bowles,  S.  J.,  349. 

Bowles,  Dr.  S.  W.,  327-328. 
Bradford,  J.  R.,  214-216. 
Brainerd,  D.,  475. 

Bray,  C.  F.,  349. 

Briggs,  L.  H.,  212-214. 

Bright,  John,  49. 

Brock,  W.,  349. 

Bronchitis,  168. 

Bronner,  B.,  129. 

Brook  Farm,  10. 

Brothers,  80. 

Brown,  John,  59,  361-362. 
Brown,  J.  E.,  388-390. 


INDEX. 


498 

Brown,  N.,  349. 

Brown,  N.  H.,  383-385. 
Buckingham,  Gov.,  107,  194. 
v;  Bull  Run,  Battle,  159. 

Bumstead,  A.  W.,  273-275. 
Bumstead,  E.  W.,  275. 

Bumstead,  Dea.  J.,  276. 

Bumstead,  M.  G.,  275-277. 

Bunker,  L.  B.,  260-262. 

Burder,  Rev.  Geo.,  84. 

Burgess,  Dr.  E.,  28,  29,  31,  40,  41. 
Business  Integrity,  222. 

Butterfield,  H.  Q.,  290-293. 

Callen,  Mary,  446-448. 

Calls,  Church,  38,  39. 

Calls  forgotten,  52. 

Candidating,  491. 

Carson,  R.  M.,  162,  373-374. 
Carruthers,  J.  C.,  381-382. 

Caswell,  Mrs.  H.  S.,  266-267. 
Catechism,  Assembly’s,  449. 

\r  Cemeteries,  2. 

Chalmers,  Dr.,  89. 

Chalmers,  Rev.  Mr.,  188. 
Chamberlain,  T.,  349. 

Channing,  Dr.  W.  E.,  16,  18. 

Childs,  J.  P.,  417-418. 

Children,  473. 

Children’s  Meetings,  137. 

Christ  and  Children,  473. 
Chrysostom,  165. 

Church  Clerks,  32. 

Church  Corporation,  22. 

Church  Fellowship,  108-110,  187. 
Church,  First,  3,  15. 

Church  Discipline,  110-113. 

Church  Functions,  96. 

Church  Independence,  20. 

J  Church  Life,  Early,  33. 

Church  members  converted,  54,  116. 
Church  Mission,  185. 

Church  Prayer  Meeting,  100-108. 
Church  Property,  20. 

Church,  West  Roxbury,  4. 

Church,  St.  James,  28. 


Cigar-smoking,  215. 

City  Mission,  141-148. 

Civil  war  time,  157-163. 

Clap,  James,  362-365. 

Clark,  Rev.  J.  S.,  248-250. 

Codman,  Dr.  John,  15,  30,  35,  40,  41. 
Codman,  Mrs.  Dr.,  464-466. 
Coincidences,  78-86. 

'Colonial  Churches,  170-181. 

Communion  Service,  96-100. 
Compliments,  53. 

Composure  in  Battle,  161. 

Conant,  Rev.  E.,  226. 

Conference  of  Churches,  183. 
Congregational  Churches,  182. 
Contentment,  Holy,  54. 

Contrasts,  78. 

Cough,  Whooping,  166. 

Councils,  Ecclesiastical,  183. 

Criticisms,  44. 

Cross,  B.,  349. 

Cummings,  A.  I.,  325-326. 

Dana,  R.  H.,  6. 

Davenport,  Dr.  F.  H.,  330. 

Davenport,  II.,  349. 

Davenport,  W.  W.,  202-206. 

Day,  Moses,  349. 

Day,  Moses  H.,  174,  210-21 1. 

Day,  William  F.,  222-223. 

Deacons,  193. 

Deaf-Mutes,  338-348. 

Dearborn,  H.  A.  S.,  9. 

Deaths,  Early,  477-479. 

Deaths,  numerous,  173-175. 

Deaths,  simultaneous,  72,  83,  84. 

Deaths,  sudden,  66-68,  223,  257,  271,  3661 
Deaths,  tragic,  68. 

Dedham  case,  20-24. 

Denison,  J.  H.,  395-396. 

Denison,  J.  N.,  358-360. 

Desiring  to  depart,  495. 

Diaconate,  The,  193-223. 

Dickinson,  H.  L.,  434-436. 

Dillaway,  C.  K.,  63. 

Dismission,  35. 


INDEX. 


499 


Discourtesies,  63-65. 

Diverse  Membership,  484-486. 

Divorce,  45. 

Domett,  George,  366-367. 

Dorcas  Society,  140-141. 

Dudleys,  5. 

Dunning,  Dr.  A.  E.,  175. 

Dying  in  sleep,  440. 

Dying  parishioners,  65. 

Ecclesiastical  Diversity,  484. 

Echeverria,  M.  A.  M.,  421-422. 
Educators,  283-302. 

Edwards,  Jonathan,  475. 

Effusive  talk,  88. 

Eliot  Church,  28. 

Eliot  Church  Deacons,  33. 

Eliot  City  Mission,  141-148. 

Eliot,  John,  1,  12,  32. 

Ellsworth,  Gov.  W.  W.,  194. 

Eminent  men,  5-13. 

Emerson,  R.  W.,  41. 

Epilogue,  484-496. 

Eustis,  Gov.  W.,  7. 

Evarts,  Jeremiah,  18. 

Evarts,  Mrs.  Jeremiah,  38. 

Examination  by  Council,  39. 

Exchange  of  pulpits,  186. 

Expository  preaching,  48.  . 

Extra- parochial,  60. 

Eyes,  closed,  82. 

Eyes,  weak,  166. 

Fairbank,  M.  B.,  263-265. 

Family,  The,  74. 

Fellowship,  Right-hand,  40. 

Female  Prayer  Meeting,  136-137. 
Fellowship  of  Churches,  108-1x0, 182-184. 
Fellowship  of  Pastors,  185. 

Fenn,  H.  T.,  415-416. 

Firm  principle,  216. 

Fisch,  Pastor,  188. 

Flint,  E.  P.,  385-386. 

Forbes,  M.  C.,  262-263. 

Foreigners,  486. 

Forest  Hills  Cemetery,  2. 


Franklin,  C.  S.,  436-437. 

-  Free  Church,  Scotland,  26. 

Freeman,  James,  14. 

Fuller,  Gen.  H.  W.,  316-317. 

Fuller,  Samuel,  194. 

Funerals,  68. 

Funeral  discourses,  162. 

Funerals,  frequent,  71. 

Funeral  notices  delayed,  61. 

Funeral  quartette,  74. 

Furber,  D.  L.,  152. 

Gager,  William,  194. 

Garfield,  President,  136. 

Garratt,  A.  C.,  322-324. 

Gaston,  Hon.  Wm.,  77,  307-308. 

Gerry,  S.  L.,  333-334. 

Gill,  Dr.,  476. 

Giving,  Means  of,  85. 

Golden  Weddings,  155. 

Goodell,  Dr.  W.,  102,  189. 

Goodrich,  Samuel  G.,  10. 

Greene,  Rev.  David,  38,  73,  142,  242-245. 
Greene,  D.  B.,  311-312. 

Greene,  D.  C.,  258-260. 

Greene,  J.  E.,  313-314. 

Greene,  Mary  Evarts,  245-247. 

Greene,  Hon.  R.  S.,  314-316. 

Greene,  Rev.  Samuel,  277-279. 
Greenough,  Rev.  W.,  408. 

Grush,  J.  W.,  402-404. 

Gulliver,  John,  122,  143,  349. 

Gulliver,  D.  F.,  321-322. 

Gulliver,  J.  P.,  392-393. 

Hall,  A.  H.,  405-407. 

Hall,  J.  M.  W.,  390. 

Hall,  S.  W.,  349. 

Hamilton,  Angenette  F.  T.,  419. 
Hamilton,  Dr.  B.  F.,  152,  157,  193. 
Harmony,  484. 

Harvard  College,  19. 

Harrison,  President,  135. 

Hastings,  D.  J.,  382-383. 

Hawaiian  Princes,  153. 

Headache,  164. 


INDEX. 


5°° 


Hearing  for  others,  45. 

Heath,  Gen.,  7. 

Heath,  John,  31,  66,  353-355. 
Henry,  Matthew,  476. 

Hewitt,  G.  R.,  407-409. 

Highland  Church,  173— 175. 

Hill,  Charles  W.,  217-219. 

Hill,  G.  E.,  396. 

Hill,  Henry,  38,  150,  199-202,  247. 
Hill,  IT.  M.,  379-381- 
Hollis,  Thomas,  19. 

Hodge,  Dr.  Charles,  157. 
Hollanders’  Chapel,  184. 

Holmes,  O.  W.,  6. 

Home,  135. 

Honorable  Women,  432-472. 
Hooker,  M.  V.,  466-467. 

Hooker,  Rev.  E.  W.,  234-236. 
Hooker,  Rev.  H.  B.,  250-253. 
Hooker,  Thos.,  250. 

Horse  Cars,  3. 

Hubbard,  J.  W.,  31 1. 

Hulbert,  C.,  349. 

Huguenot  Seminary,  274. 
Huntington,  E.  B.,  208-210. 
Huntington,  Mrs.  S.,  477. 

Hurter,  G.  C.,  255-257. 

Hurter,  E.  G.,  257-258. 

Impostors,  89-91,  94. 

Indians,  1. 

Indian  Bible,  12. 

Insomnia,  163,  165. 

Intellect  disordered,  92,  93. 
Intemperance,  62. 
Interdenominational,  62. 

Ireson,  Wesley,  66,  376-377. 

Jamaica  Plain,  4. 

Jefferies,  Dr.  J.,  167. 

Joy  in  suffering,  55-58. 

John  Eliot  Church,  184. 

Kenilworth,  32. 

Kindness,  Parochial,  168,  492. 
Kingman,  Abner,  367-369. 

King’s  Chapel,  14. 


Kirk,  Dr.,  186. 

Kittredge,  Alvah,  30,  38,  123,  153,  195. 
197. 

Kittredge,  Mrs.  A.,  433“434- 
Kittredge,  Dr.  A.  E.,  123,  401-402. 
Kittredge,  Rev.  C.  B.,  226-228. 
Kittredge,  G.  A.,  386-388. 

Kuhn,  Mrs.  M.,  444-446. 

Lambert,  W.  G.,  198-199. 

Lambs  Fed,  133. 

Laurie,  Dr.  T.,  186,  189. 

Laymen,  Noteworthy,  349-377. 

Lawyers,  303-319. 

Leake,  Mrs.  M.  P.  H.,  247-248. 
Liberalism,  14-26. 

Lincoln,  President,  136. 

Loker,  J.  D.,  162. 

Longevity,  216,  448-455.  463. 

Loomis,  Mrs.  J.  H.,  267-268. 

Lord,  President,  188. 

Losses  in  War,  161-163. 

Loyalty,  Civil,  157. 

Lynde,  C.  F.,  346-347. 

Lynde,  M.  C.,  347-348. 

Lynde,  W.,  344-346. 

Mann,  Dr.  Benj.,  329. 

Mann,  E.  P.,  335-336. 

March,  Andrew  S.,  206-208. 

Marriages,  74-77. 

Marriage  certificate,  76. 

Marriage  and  Death,  77,  78. 

Marriage  fees,  75,  76. 

Marsh,  J.  P.,  340-342. 

Marsh,  L.  G.,  467-470. 

Marsh,  Mrs.  P.  P.,  342-343. 

Marshall,  Andrew,  219-22 1. 
Massachusetts  45th  Regiment,  160. 
Maternal  Meeting,  132-136. 

McGaw,  J.  A.,  349. 

McNee,  Mrs.,  67. 

Means,  Dr.  J.  H.,  186. 

Means,  Dr.  J.  O.,  167,  171,  186. 
Melancholia,  118. 

Merrill,  F.  T.,  336-337. 

Meserve,  I.  C.,  404-405. 


INDEX. 


Mills,  Rev.  C.,  173. 

Ministers’  Wives,  455-456. 
Ministerial  Colleagues,  410-419. 
Ministerial  Recruits,  392-409. 
Missionaries,  255-282. 

Missionary  Officials,  237-254. 
Missionary  Spirit,  237-239. 
Mitchell,  D.  M.,  144,  230-232. 
Monthly  Concert,  137-138. 
Morse,  S.  E.,  231. 

Mothers,  135-136. 

Mourner,  intoxicated,  69. 
Munroe,  C.  W.,  277. 

Murder,  71. 

Murke,  F.  E.,  480. 

Murray,  Andrew,  276. 

Nationalities,  various,  484. 

Neff,  Felix,  106. 

Newell,  Samuel,  11,  351. 
Nichols,  W.  R.,  294-298. 

Night  visits,  56. 

Norton,  Andrews,  41. 
Novel-readers,  117. 

Nute,  T.  R.,  328. 

Nutting,  J.,  448-451. 

Obstructionist,  78. 

Only  Sons,  161. 

Orphans,  61. 

Orthodox  Awakening,  15,  25,  27. 

Packard,  Otis,  349. 

Paris,  M.  C.,  260. 

Parish,  142. 

Parish  calls,  50. 

Parishioner,  pretentious,  51. 
Parishioners,  complaining,  52. 
Parishioners,  ministerial,  224-236. 
Park,  Dr.  E.  A.,  408. 

Parker,  Chief  Justice,  22. 

Parker,  John  A.,  79. 

Parker,  Mrs.  S.  E.,  121. 

Parker,  Theodore,  41,  48. 

Park  St.  Church,  102. 

Pastorate,  Happy,  488-496. 


Payson,  Dr.  E.,  206. 

Peck,  S.  E.  R.,  461-462. 

Peculiar  People,  86-95. 

Penniman,  C.  F.,  418. 

Perkins,  Benjamin,  146,  253-254. 
Perkins,  Rev.  F.  B.,  400-40  x. 

Perkins,  S.  M.  H.,  412-413. 
Physicians,  2,  320-331. 

Pierce,  Dr.  John,  164. 

Piety,  early,  474*477- 
Piety  amidst  poverty,  55-58. 

Piety,  refining,  59. 

Pithy  sayings,  53. 

Plumb,  Dr.  A.  H.,  180,  186,  272. 
Polycarp,  474. 

Poor,  Dr.  Daniel,  189. 

Porcupine  man,  88. 

Porter,  Dr.  E.,  15. 

Porter,  Rev.  Huntington,  225-226. 
Porter,  J.  W.,  317-319- 
Porter,  Miss  Laura,  248. 

Porter,  Mrs.  S.  C.,  470-472. 

Porter,  Rev.  W.  H.,  229. 

Pratt,  Rev.  L.,  412. 

Pratt,  S.  P.  G.,  411-412. 

Prayer  answered,  107. 

Prayer  for  colleges,  138. 

Prayer  meetings,  100-108,  132. 

Prayer  pertinent,  103. 

Prentiss,  Dr.  N.  S.,  11,  31,  44,  349-353 
Priestly,  Dr.,  63. 

Publications,  153. 

Pulpit,  The,  43-49. 

Pulpit  exchanges,  186. 

Pulpit  preparation,  46,  47. 

Punctuality,  207. 

Quartettes,  73. 

Receptions,  1 53—1 57. 

Reed,  Dr.  Andrew,  30. 

Retreat,  A,  185. 

Revivals,  1 13-120,  341. 

Richards,  Rev.  A.,  154. 

Richards,  Guy,  480. 

Robinson,  Mr.,  91. 


5°2 


INDEX. 


Rockwood,  Rev.  L.  B.,  233-234. 
Rogers,  Wm.  M.,  34. 

Roman  Catholics,  488-490. 
Root,  Mrs.  V.  A.,  334-335- 
Ropes,  Hon.  J.  S.,  369-370. 
Ropes,  W.  L.,  393-394. 

~  Roxbury,  1-13,  27,  37. 

Roxbury,  First  Church,  3,  12. 
Roxbury,  West,  4,  10,  40. 
Russell,  Hon.  C.  T.,  305-306. 

Sacramental  Services,  96-99. 

St.  James  Church,  28. 

Salaries,  35. 

Sandwich  Case,  24. 

Sargent,  L.  M.,  10. 

Sciatica,  167. 

Scripture  for  soldiers,  158. 
Scripture  memorized,  133. 
Scudder,  Dea.  Charles,  269. 
Scudder,  David  C.,  268-271. 
Scudder,  Rev.  E.,  398-399. 
Scudder,  H.  E.,  300-302. 
Seeking  settlement,  37. 

Sermon  preparation,  46. 

Sermon  borrowed,  49. 

Sermon  topics,  43,  46,  47. 
Sermons  destroyed,  48. 

Sermons  re-written,  45. 
Settlement  declined,  39. 
Severance,  E.  H.,  349. 

Sewall,  W.,  394. 

Shedd,  Dr.  W.  G.  T.,  188,  409. 
—  Shipwreck,  71. 

Shirley,  William,  7. 

Shoddy  Parishioner,  51. 

Short,  Charles,  293-294. 
Sickness,  163-169. 

Silsbee,  E.,  423-424. 

Sleeping  at  Church,  82,  83. 
Smith,  Rev.  Levi,  144. 

Smith,  Rev.  S.  S.,  224-225. 
Society  women,  51. 

Sociability,  149-150. 

Soren,  J.,  349. 

Spiritism,  112. 


Spiritual  growth,  14. 

Steele,  C.  R.,  423-424. 

Steele,  H.  S.,  326-327. 

Stoddard,  Charles,  82. 

Stone,  Mrs.  C.  L.,  437-438. 

Stone,  Miss  C.  M.,  438-440. 

Stone,  Capt.  E.,  158. 

Stone,  Miss  E.  M.,  272-273. 

Stone,  Col.  E.  W.,  390-391. 

Storrs,  Dr.  R.  S.,  102,  186. 

Stowe,  Prof.,  409. 

Street,  M.  A.,  416-417. 

Strong,  Gov.  Caleb,  82. 

Strong,  E.  G.,  413-414- 
Strong,  E.  E.,  184. 

Stuart,  Gilbert,  9. 

Sumner,  Increase,  7. 

Sunday  Schools,  Boston,  121-123. 
.Sunday  School,  Eliot,  119,  123,  131,  377 
495- 

Sunday  Schools  Mission,  121,  122,  142 
144,  304. 

Sunday  School  Superintendents,  130. 
Surprise  parties,  149,  150. 

Surprises,  82. 

Sympathy,  exhausting,  57. 

Tertullian,  102. 

Thayer,  R.  H.,.  349. 

Thompson,  T.  S.,  161. 

Thurston,  William,  122. 

Tinkham,  Capt.,  67,  349. 

Tract  distribution,  142. 

Trading  on  Philanthropy,  94. 

Treat,  Sela  B.,  164. 

Treadwell,  Gov.,  194. 

Twombly,  Dr.  A.  S.,  399-400. 

Underwood,  Miss  S.  M.,  2S0-282. 
Unitarianism,  14. 

Unitarians,  117. 

Universalism,  14,  27. 

Vine  Street  Church,  170-172,  183. 

Visits,  Pastoral,  493-495. 

Waldoborough,  232. 


INDEX. 


5°3 


'Walley,  Hon.  S.  H.,  38,  303-305,  382. 
W alley,  W.  P.,  316. 

Ward  well,  A.  F.,  440. 

Wardwell,  W.  H.,  374-375. 

Walnut  Avenue  Church,  175-181. 
Warren,  Gen.,  8. 

War-time,  157-163. 

Waters,  A.  F.,  442-444. 

Waterman,  Lucy,  451-453. 

Waterman,  M.,  355-357. 

Weddings,  Golden,  155. 

Week  of  Prayer,  138. 

Wesley,  John,  163. 

Wesson,  S.,  453-455- 
West  Roxbury,  4. 

Wheelwright,  Eben,  151,  349. 
Wheelwright,  H.  B.,  324-325. 

White,  I.  D.,  360-361. 


White,  I.  C.,  152,  396-398. 

Widows,  462. 

Wildes,  Sophia,  73. 

Williams,  Thos.  S.,  194. 

Wine  at  Weddings,  75. 

Winslow,  Admiral  J.  A.,  11. 

Wives  of  Ministers,  455. 

Wolff,  H.  C.  B.,  410-41 1. 

Women,  Honorable,  432-472. 

Women,  Young,  420-431. 

Woodbridge,  Rev.  W.  C.,  73,  285-287. 

Yale  College,  231. 

Yankee,  typical,  186. 

Young  Men,  378-391. 

Young  Men’s  Meeting,  137. 

Young  Women’s  Meeting,  137. 


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